Leeds Conservatoire is proud of its performance in this year’s National Student Survey (NSS), commissioned by the Office for Students (OfS).

Students in School of Drama production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo credit: Cian's Cameras
The institution as a whole scored highest for assessment and feedback amongst Conservatoires UK (CUK) members, exceeding the CUK average by seven percentage points. Drama courses at the conservatoire ranked top for teaching, learning opportunities, and student voice amongst CUK drama providers, and scored above CUK drama averages across all key survey themes. Music courses exceeded CUK music averages for teaching, learning opportunities, and assessment and feedback.
Within Leeds, the conservatoire ranked first for music courses across learning opportunities and assessment and feedback. For drama courses in the city, it scored highest for teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, and student voice.
Professor Joe Wilson, Principal at Leeds Conservatoire, said, “Leeds Conservatoire will soon be celebrating its 60th anniversary; a constant is our commitment to providing an excellent student experience. The 2025 National Student Survey results are very encouraging. We are thankful to students for sharing what’s working well, and where we can make improvements, and to staff across the institution for their continued dedication.”
This year’s survey findings showed improvements, including in areas which scored highly in 2024. For example, in response to questions on teaching, 97% of students said that staff are good at explaining things (3% increase). Over 90% felt the course studied developed knowledge and skills to support their future endeavours. For assessment and feedback, there was a significant increase of 8% for the question linked to feedback helping students improve their work.
The NSS asks students across the UK to share their views on their academic support, teaching and assessments, and the wider student experience. 71.5 per cent of eligible students in the UK responded to the 2025 survey.