Growing numbers of university leavers may be giving the same response to every question on the National Student Survey because of ¡°overzealous promotion¡± by institutions concerned about their public profile, .

In 2014, 6.1 per cent of those completing the NSS online gave the same answer to every question ¨C a phenomenon known as ¡°yea-saying¡± ¨C up from 1 per cent in 2005. The majority of these responses comprise wholly positive ratings.

A report to the UK¡¯s higher education funding councils by polling organisation Ipsos MORI, which conducts the NSS, says that the ¡°worrying¡± trend ¡°may continue¡±, because yea-saying is even more prevalent among graduates who complete the survey on a smartphone, a category that is expected to grow.

One interpretation is that yea-saying reflects students trying to answer the survey as quickly as possible, and Ipsos MORI found evidence to support this.

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Yea-sayers completed the 2014 survey in an average time of five and a half minutes, compared with eight and a half minutes for respondents who gave more varied responses. One in five yea-sayers completed the survey in under two minutes, compared with only 3 per cent of the rest of the sample.

But other evidence suggests there might be something more to it, as although yea-sayers were less likely to answer optional questions than other respondents, some 68 per cent still did, and more than half gave open-ended comments.

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Ipsos MORI says that institutions are ¡°aware of the importance of the survey and the visibility of the results, especially in the media and league tables¡±. This, the report says, ¡°may encourage some overzealous promotion¡± of the NSS, and ¡°could lead students to rate their institutions more generously¡±.

¡°Strong NSS scores at the institutional level can benefit both students and institutions themselves¡­there may therefore be some incentive on the part of both to encourage or give positive ratings,¡± the report says.

One possible solution would be to introduce negatively worded questions, to encourage more considered responses, but in a pilot students found these questions confusing.

A review chaired by Janet Beer, vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, instead recommends changes to the design of the survey interface. A ¡°drag and drop¡± method of answering questions, or a warning if the same answer is given too many times, may be introduced.?

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chris.havergal@tesglobal.com