The University of South Wales (USW) has been ranked the top institute for overall postgraduate research student satisfaction in a national survey.

USW was also top in both the ‘Support’ and ‘Research Skills’ categories in the annual Advance HE’s Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), which provides benchmark data from 105 institutions to drive enhancement of the postgraduate research experience.

USW was first for postgraduate research student (PGR) satisfaction, at 89%, which was 10% higher than the sector average and 7.9% higher than other Welsh institutions. This represents a 6% increase in performance compared to last year.

In the ‘Support’ category, the University was 12.4% above the sector overall, with specific measures of support also showing USW as sector leaders - 18% above sector for health and wellbeing, 13% above sector for meeting academic skills requirements, and 7% above sector for the support offered for using IT and accessing resources.

USW also excelled across a number of subjects, with 93% overall satisfaction in Social Sciences, and 100% satisfaction with their academic skills support. Health and Social Care achieved 81% overall satisfaction, whilst overall satisfaction in STEM was 7.7% above the sector average, placing USW in the top 25% of institutions for this area.

Professor Martin Steggall, USW’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said: “We are really proud of these results and want to thank all the PGRs who participated, as well as our fantastic PGR supervisors and colleagues across the University who support our students.

“While the outcomes are an excellent reflection of the support we offer, there were areas highlighted that have room for improvement.

“This is why we are working on developing our research culture across all discipline areas, and a Research and Innovation Strategy, which will further aim to develop a nurturing and supportive environment for all of our researchers.”