This is part two of a two-part series - find part one here.
In the creative industries at our university, our maxim is: your first day on your course is your first day in industry.
We believe and enact this across all our programmes. Authentic assessment is not just academic terminology, but central to our pedagogy. We ensure our students are fully prepared for life after graduation and this genuine commitment was integral to our NSS strategy.
Employability and industry links: learning by doing
In the creative industries, the line between classroom and workplace is thin – and we embraced that reality. Our students don’t just learn about media production; they make it. We have built a strong network of industry partners across television, radio and digital platforms, from national broadcasters to local production facilities. These organisations now see our students not just as interns, but as emerging professionals.
- Nudge your way up the NSS ladder
- Finger on the pulse: establish a culture of communication for better feedback
- Everyday strategies to build belonging and well-being
Work experience placements are woven through the programme. But we go further, by matching students’ individual skill sets and interests to the right opportunities. We also host regular guest speakers – producers, specialists in craft roles like editors and camerapeople, directors and alumni – who speak frankly about industry expectations and share the reality of a constantly evolving sector.
This focus on employability resonates strongly with students. One of them wrote to me after graduating to say that the chance to work on a live radio show had given them “the confidence to see myself as a broadcaster, not just a student”. For us, that is exactly what success looks like: education that moves seamlessly into employment, grounded in real experience.
Community: the glue that holds it all together
Creative learning is social learning. Students do not just thrive on feedback from staff; they grow through collaboration with each other. After our 2024 NSS results, we realised that building a stronger sense of belonging had to be a priority.
We began with visibility and accessibility. Staff made their on-campus presence clear, communicating office hours and availability so that students knew exactly when and how to reach us. But we also looked for ways to make the programme feel like a community beyond the timetable.
One simple but popular initiative I set up was a monthly open-mic night called Scratch, where students could try out new creative ideas – a spoken-word piece, a song or a short film screening, in a relaxed, supportive setting. These evenings blurred the line between course and community and reminded everyone that creativity flourishes best when it’s shared.
Another initiative, Studio Lab, takes place every Wednesday afternoon. It’s a collaborative club where students from the broadcast production course work alongside their peers from our music and performance and film-making programmes to capture live bands, record live theatre and create content for local sports clubs and charities. It is part teaching, part production and part playground – a place where students learn by experimenting, failing safely and discovering new passions.
Then there’s our 24-hour live radio fundraiser on UWS Radio, a student-led broadcast marathon that tests creativity, teamwork and technical skill. Every year, students coordinate the schedule, produce shows across genres and raise funds for charity. Last year they raised £335 for the Ayrshire Hospice. With 28 students hosting five shows, it’s exhausting, exhilarating and deeply bonding. By the end, students aren’t just classmates – they’re colleagues.
Well-being and care as creative practice
Supporting mental well-being has always been part of our ethos, but this year we made it more explicit. From freshers’ week onwards, we signposted well-being services and normalised conversations around mental health. We also encouraged students to create content that explored those themes – documentaries, interviews and podcasts that gave voice to real experiences.
In the NSS 2025, 100 per cent of respondents said information about mental well-being support services was well communicated – a result that speaks not only to visibility, but to the sense of safety students felt within the course.
As one student wrote: “We’re a small cohort, but it feels like a family. The staff care about us as people, not just as grades.” For a creative discipline that thrives on vulnerability and expression, that culture of care isn’t a luxury – it is the foundation of everything we do.
From reflection to renewal
What these results show is not just statistical improvement but cultural renewal. Between 2024 and 2025, overall satisfaction rose from 61.9 to 100 per cent. Every major category – teaching, academic support, organisation and student voice – recorded scores above 95 per cent, many of them 20 points higher than the university average.
But behind each percentage is a story of small, consistent actions: clearer communication, timely feedback, shared practice, open doors. None of these are revolutionary on their own. Together, they transformed how our students experienced their education.
Personally, seeing those results was profoundly validating. We all put 100 per cent effort into our teaching all the time, but when students reflect that back, it confirms that effort in a way nothing else can. As I often remind myself, education is reciprocal. We learn as much from our students as they do from us – especially in an ever-changing, multiplatform media environment. Their curiosity keeps us current, and their ambition keeps us motivated and inspired.
Following much discussion – and with students at the centre of those conversations – we have since evolved the programme’s content and changed its title to BA (Hons) Television, Radio & Podcast Production, from Broadcast Production: TV & Radio. This development reflects both the realities of today’s multiplatform media industry and the interests of our students, who increasingly move fluidly between broadcast, audio and digital storytelling. The new name signals our ongoing commitment to ensuring that the course remains contemporary, inclusive and aligned with how creative professionals now tell stories across every platform.
Lessons for creative education
The lessons we have learned are now part of our annual toolkit when examining our learning and teaching practices and our engagement with our student body. The cross-programme group set up by media lead Elizabeth McLaughlin is now part of our meeting planning for the session.
Listening to all voices is vital and that goes beyond the student body. Sharing good practice, having a safe space for colleagues and students to discuss learning and teaching enabled us to build a community of practice and criticality. While NSS success is not the final result, or even the only goal, there is satisfaction in knowing we have worked together and listened to each other to create a learning experience that will stay with students long after graduation.
Looking ahead
As we celebrate this milestone, we also see it as a beginning. The media landscape our students enter changes daily, and so must our teaching. Maintaining 100 per cent satisfaction will depend on the same curiosity and humility that got us here: continuing to learn from our students, from industry and from one another.
Our next challenge is to share these practices more widely across the university – exploring how reflective dialogue, community events and authentic assessment can strengthen student experience in other disciplines. That’s where Elizabeth McLaughlin’s cross-programme networks will be vital in the year ahead.
Because ultimately, what transformed our programme wasn’t a new module or a piece of software. It was a collective decision to listen better, to show up more and to treat every creative act – teaching included – as a collaboration.
Kate Cotter is programme leader and Elizabeth McLaughlin is media lead, both at the School of Business and Creative Industries at the University of the West of Scotland.
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