Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom are published annually by The Guardian, The Independent, The Sunday Times and The Times. The primary aim of the rankings is to inform potential applicants about UK universities based on a range of criteria, including entry standards, student satisfaction, staff/student ratio, academic services and facilities expenditure per student, research quality, proportion of Firsts and 2:1s, completion rates and student destinations.[1][2] All of the league tables also rank universities on their strength in individual subjects.
Contents |
Several national organizations (arranged alphabetically here) provide UK rankings, including the following:
The Complete University Guide is an independently published ranking produced in association with The Independent from 2008 to 2011.[3] It was formerly known as The Good University Guide and was published for the first time in The Daily Telegraph in 2007.[4] The rankings are compiled by Mayfield University Consultants, who previously compiled university rankings for The Times.[5]
The ranking uses nine criteria and a statistical technique called the Z-transformation is applied to each to create a total score for that criteria.[6] The Z-scores for each criterion are then weighted by 1.5 for student satisfaction and research assessment and 1.0 for the rest and summed to give a total score for each university. Finally, these total scores are transformed to a scale where the top score is set at 1,000 with the remainder being a proportion of the top score.
The most recent league table (2012) ranked the top 30 British universities as follows:[7]
| RANK (1-10) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (11-20) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (21-30) | UNIVERSITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cambridge | 11 | University of Bristol | 21 | University of Glasgow |
| 2 | University of Oxford | 12 | University of York | 22 | University of Birmingham |
| 3 | Imperial College London | 13 | University of Edinburgh | 23 | University of Leicester |
| 4 | London School of Economics | 14 | University of Southampton | 24 | Newcastle University |
| 5 | Durham University | 15 | University of Exeter | 25 | Aston University |
| 6 | University of St Andrews | 16 | King's College London | 26 | University of Sheffield |
| 7 | University College London | 17 | University of Nottingham | 27 | University of East Anglia |
| 8 | University of Warwick | 18 | SOAS | 28 | University of Surrey |
| 9 | University of Lancaster | =19 | Loughborough University | 29 | University of Manchester |
| 10 | University of Bath | =19 | University of Sussex | 30 | University of Liverpool |
The Guardian's ranking uses six different criteria, each weighted between 5 and 17 per cent. Unlike other rankings the criteria do not include a measure of research output.[8] A controversial "value-added" factor is included which compares students' degree results with their entry qualifications: "Based upon a sophisticated indexing methodology that tracks students from enrolment to graduation, qualifications upon entry are compared with the award that a student receives at the end of their studies”.[1]
The most recent league table (2012) ranked the top 30 British universities as follows:[9]
| RANK (1-10) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (11-20) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (21-30) | UNIVERSITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cambridge | =11 | University of Exeter | 21 | University of Glasgow |
| 2 | University of Oxford | =11 | University of Sussex | 22 | City University |
| 3 | University of St Andrews | 13 | SOAS | 23 | University of Kent |
| 4 | London School of Economics | 14 | University of Bath | 24 | University of Birmingham |
| 5 | University College London | 15 | University of York | 25 | University of Bristol |
| 6 | University of Warwick | 16 | University of Edinburgh | 26 | University of Dundee |
| 7 | University of Lancaster | 17 | University of Leicester | 27 | Heriot-Watt University |
| 8 | Durham University | 18 | University of East Anglia | 28 | University of Southampton |
| 9 | Loughborough University | =19 | University of Nottingham | 29 | University of Strathclyde |
| 10 | Imperial College London | =19 | University of Surrey | 30 | King's College London |
The Sunday Times university league table ranks institutions using eight criteria:[10]
The most recent league table (2012) ranked the top 30 British universities as follows:[11]
| RANK (1-10) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (11-20) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (21-30) | UNIVERSITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cambridge | 11 | Loughborough University | 21 | University of Surrey |
| 2 | University of Oxford | 12 | Newcastle University | 22 | University of Southampton |
| 3 | Durham University | 13 | University of Sheffield | 23 | Queen Mary, University of London |
| 4 | London School of Economics | 14 | Imperial College London | 24 | University of Leeds |
| 5 | University of Bath | =15 | University of Nottingham | 25 | University of Birmingham |
| 6 | University of St Andrews | =15 | University of York | 26 | Cardiff University |
| 7 | University College London | 17 | King's College London | 27 | University of Edinburgh |
| 8 | University of Warwick | 18 | Lancaster University | 28 | University of Leicester |
| 9 | University of Exeter | 19 | University of Sussex | 29 | University of East Anglia |
| 10 | University of Bristol | 20 | University of Glasgow | 30 | University of Reading |
The Times university rankings take into account eight criteria.[12] The Student Satisfaction and Research criteria are weighted by 1.5 and then each of the eight criteria scores are multiplied by 10 in order to give a score out of 1000 for each university.
The most recent league table (2012) ranked the top 30 British universities as follows:[13]
| RANK (1-10) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (11-20) | UNIVERSITY | RANK (21-30) | UNIVERSITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Oxford | 11 | University of York | 21 | University of Buckingham |
| 2 | University of Cambridge | 12 | University of Bath | 22 | University of Glasgow |
| 3 | London School of Economics | 13 | University of Bristol | 23 | SOAS |
| 4 | Imperial College London | 14 | University of Sussex | 24 | King's College London |
| 5 | University College London | 15 | University of Edinburgh | 25 | Newcastle University |
| 6 | Durham University | 16 | University of Nottingham | 26 | University of Birmingham |
| 6 | University of St Andrews | 17 | University of Sheffield | 27 | University of East Anglia |
| 8 | University of Warwick | 17 | University of Leicester | 28 | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| 9 | University of Lancaster | 19 | University of Southampton | 29 | University of Surrey |
| 10 | University of Exeter | 20 | Loughborough University | 30 | University of Leeds |
It has been commented by The Sunday Times that a number of universities which regularly feature in the top ten of British university league tables, such as Durham, St Andrews, SOAS and LSE, "inhabit surprisingly low ranks in the worldwide tables", whilst other universities such as Manchester and Birmingham, "that failed to do well in the domestic rankings have shone much brighter on the international stage".[14] A further example is that Scottish Universities such as Dundee and Aberdeen feature highly in international league rankings, often outranking many English institutions, but fail to rank as highly in domestic tables. The considerable disparity in rankings has been attributed to the different methodology and purpose of global university rankings such as the Academic Ranking of World Universities, QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. International university rankings primarily use criteria such as academic and employer surveys, the number of citations per faculty, the proportion of international staff and students and faculty and alumni prize winners.[15][16][17] The national rankings, on the other hand, give most weighting to the undergraduate student experience, taking account of teaching quality and learning resources, together with the academic quality of a university’s intake, graduate employment, research quality and dropout rates.[1][18]
UK university rankings have been subject to various criticisms.
There has been criticism of attempts to combine different rankings on for example research quality, quality of teaching, drop out rates and student satisfaction. Sir Alan Wilson, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds argues that the final average has little significance and is like trying to ‘combine apples and oranges.’[19] Other criticisms he made included the varying weights given to different factors, the need for universities to 'chase' the rankings, the often fluctuating nature of a university's ranking, and the catch-22 that the government's desire to increase access can have negative effects on league table rankings.[19]
The Guardian suggests that league tables may affect the nature of undergraduate admissions in an attempt to improve a university's league table position.[20]
Roger Brown, the former Vice Chancellor of Southampton Solent University argues the limitations of comparative data when comparing Universities.[21]
The Guardian league table has a peculiar habit of ranking quite highly courses given by departments that have recently closed down. For example mathematics at Bangor[22] which closed in 2006 was rated fifth in the UK in the "2008" league table, Hull also did reasonably well considering it too no longer had a mathematics department or degree.[23] The Guardian later published a correction.[24]
Professor Geoffrey Alderman writing in the Guardian makes the point that by including the percentage of 'good honours' this can encourage grade inflation so that league table position can be maintained.[25]
The rankings are also criticised for not giving a full picture of higher education in the United Kingdom. There are institutions which focus on research and enjoy a prestigious reputation but are not shown in the table for various reasons. For example, the Institute of Education, University of London, is not usually listed in the undergraduate rankings despite the fact that it offers an undergraduate B.Ed and is generally recognised as one of the best institutions offering teacher training and Education studies (for example, being given joint first place, alongside Oxford University, in the 2008 Research Assessment 'Education' subject rankings, according to both Times Higher Education and the Guardian).[26][27]
League Tables, which usually focus on the full-time undergraduate student experience, commonly omit reference to Birkbeck, University of London, and the Open University, both of which specialise in teaching part-time students at the undergraduate level. These universities, however, often make a strong showing in specialist league tables looking at research, teaching quality, and student satisfaction. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, according to the Times Higher Education, Birkbeck was placed equal 33rd, and the Open University 43rd, out of 132 institutions.[28] And the 2009 student satisfaction survey placed the Open University 3rd and Birkbeck 13th out of 153 universities and higher education institutions (1st and 6th, respectively, among multi-faculty universities).[29]
|
||||||||||||||