You all know what I think of the numerical aspects of feedback and (even more so) the production of league tables from the National Student Survey, and none of what I am about to say changes any of that. Allow me, nevertheless, to blow my own trumpet a little. I had this free text comment from end of degree NSS feedback passed on to me today, about which I am chuffed.
'The most rewarding academic experience was the privilege of being able to participate on my second year Histories and Contexts module, End of the Roman World, which greatly developed my understanding not only of the course but also of myself as a person.'
I always say (and always have said) that if I can make that sort of difference (by which I mean the last few words of this comment) to just one student it would all be worthwhile. I have been saying it a lot of late as I have had the feeling that, as I feel myself increasingly out of step with what is euphemistically called "the modern university", it is something I haven't been doing because the set-up makes it harder to do, so I am very, very heartened by this. Whoever it was, thank you very much! It encourages me to keep plodding away.