Students at Scottish universities are the most satisfied in the UK with St Andrews coming out as the most popular university in Britain, according to a survey.

The annual National Student Survey (NSS) found that students in Scotland from the eight universities that took part have a satisfaction rating of 86% compared to 81% in England, 83% in Wales and 82% in Northern Ireland.

The most satisfied students in the UK are at the Open University with a rating of 95%, closely followed by St Andrews at 94%. Dr Brian Lang, Principal of St Andrews, welcomed the findings stating: "We are very pleased to be part of a strong performance by Scottish universities in this year's survey."

However, there was concern about the merits of the survey from students themselves in Scotland who described it as "crude and meaningless".

James Alexander, president of NUS Scotland, said asking whether students were satisfied was not robust because they had nothing to compare their experience with and it was not a measure of whether their education could have been better.

"Whether or not someone is satisfied is a meaningless and crude measure. If universities are really concerned about the experience of their students they should be engaging them as active partners in their learning throughout the year.

"What we want to see is a situation where students have more of a say in deciding what they learn on a day to day basis rather than being asked once a year if they were satisfied."