StudentSurvey.ie (the Irish Survey of Student Engagement; Suirbhé na hÉireann ar Rannpháirtíocht na Mac Léinn) has become an established feature of the higher education landscape in Ireland since its development in 2012-2013. StudentSurvey.ie asks students directly about their experiences of higher education, including their academic, personal, and social development. In 2020, 44,707 students in 26 higher education institutions participated. For the purposes of StudentSurvey.ie, student engagement reflects two key elements. The first is the amount of time and effort that students put into their studies and other educationally beneficial activities. The second is how institutions deploy resources and organise curriculum and learning opportunities to encourage students to participate in meaningful activities linked to learning. A unique partnership was established between the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the Irish Universities (IUA), the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) to manage, direct and implement the survey project. The partnership was extended through the national StudentSurvey.ie Steering Group, which maintains strategic direction for the survey project and consists of the aforementioned organisations, participating institutions and the statutory quality assurance and qualifications agency, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). Interpretation of detailed results requires contextualising the results with information from each individual institution and understanding what the students in that institution are saying. Institutions are committed to interpreting and utilising StudentSurvey.ie data to enhance the experiences of their students and do not support the use of student engagement results for any overly simplistic purpose that could be perceived as ranking institutions.
