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NSS technical documentation and definitions

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About the NSS

Technical algorithms

Download the technical algorithms
PDF, 137Kb
This document contains technical algorithms for the 2025 NSS results

Communicating uncertainty in the NSS publication

Download the report on communicating uncertainty
PDF, 325Kb
This document contains information about communicating uncertainty in the NSS results. We have followed this approach in NSS 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Benchmarking in the NSS publication

Download the report on benchmarking
PDF, 525Kb
This document contains information on our approach to benchmarking in NSS 2023. We have used the same approach for NSS 2024 and NSS 2025, including that used for question 28, for the healthcare, allied health, and clinical practice placement questions.

Student characteristics

Download the coverage of the student characteristics document.
PDF, 115Kb
This document gives more description of the coverage of student characteristics and how they are defined in NSS 2023.

The coverage for NSS 2024 remained unchanged. For the July publication of NSS 2025 student characteristics, the 2023 document remains valid. However, we have not been able to include student characteristic data on care experienced students, estrangement or service child status in this publication. We intend to include these characteristics in an update in autumn 2025, as well as information on the rates of missing student characteristic data in the NSS25 target list. For more details, see the NSS 2025 quality note.

Published 10 August 2023
Last updated 09 July 2025
09 July 2025
Added note about student characteristics coverage in NSS25. Updated report on communicating uncertainty and minor corrections to the benchmarking document.
16 October 2024
Updated with information on NSS 2024 student characteristics data.
10 July 2024
Published NSS 2024 technical algorithms document.
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