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Collecting feedback from students on their experiences of higher education has become one of the central pillars of the quality process. Many surveys are being carried out but it is not always clear how fit for purpose they are. This paper compares the fitness for purpose of a nation-wide survey and a tailor-made institutional survey. The National Student Survey, recently introduced in the UK, aims to provide information for prospective students and address public accountability, whereas the Student Satisfaction Approach is designed primarily to inform internal quality improvement processes but also to supply some information to prospective students. The two surveys are also very different in content and presentation of results. The two surveys are not interchangeable in use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the problems on user surveys in external assessments carried out in higher education in Europe. Influence of user surveys on higher education institutions; Emphasis on the problems of limited use of user surveys; Relevance of higher education to stakeholders.