When we choose for a university, a lot is on our mind. In the UK there are a lot universities with high ranking. In the UK there are over 150 universities and institutions for higher education, and the ranking is important factor for the decision to be made. As students, we must make informed decision for our future vocation. But are the rumours of the University Rankings being sponsored by Universities and companies really true? Today we delve into the uk uni rankings uses and trustworthiness.
There are a lot rankings for the universities. We must advice to make a good research and comparing these rankings. The most trustworthy rankings are the Complete University Guide and the Guardian University League Tables. There is option to filter the results also by subjects and see the rankings of the universities.
Guardian University Guide
According to Guardian University Guide, 9 measurements are taken as reliable ones, and they have made a table with all universities.
The National Student Survey
This survey is often included in every league tables ranking method. It is made in period of the second semester where students provide ,in their last year of studies, feedback about their university experience. This survey is made from the Student Office, and the results also put were available on the webpage. Standardization and trustworthiness is questionable here however. The problem is where there are smaller number of students that partake in the surveys it is thus harder to get reliable data.
Complete University Guide in the UK
Their league tables are showing the ranking of more than 70 subjects and areas.
Here we list the best Universities in UK, based on their areas:
Universities in the East Midlands
Nottingham Trent University
Bishop Grosseteste University
Loughborough University
University of Leicester
University of Derby
University of Northampton
University of Lincoln
According to this listing, 5 of the universities in this area are in top 50 for 2022. That can be seen in with the scores in quality of education and teaching.
Universities in the East of England:
Anglia Ruskin University
Norwich University of the Arts
University of Cambridge
University of Bedfordshire
University of East Anglia UEA
University of Hertfordshire
According to this ranking, 5 of them are in the top 100.
Universities in North East England
Teesside
Durham
Newcastle
University of Sunderland
Northumbria
All of these universities in this area are in top 100.
Universities in North West England
Lancaster
Edge Hill
Liverpool Hope
Manchester Metropolitan
Liverpool John Moores
University of Bolton
University of Chester
University of Central Lancashire
University of Salford
University of Cumbria
University of Manchester
University of Liverpool
11 universities are in the top 100. Their scores are the highest in several areas: education, teaching and living in this area.
Trustworthiness
This ranking is also a good one. Beside the university, it gives information about the towns in each area and the possibility of having social life.
Some other rankings that we could put them in the medium scale of trustworthness are:
QS Top University
According to this listing, the top universities in UK and worldwide are presented in this table:
According to this ranking, Oxbridge is the best university. But this listing have less characteristic and has less precise presentation of the quality scores.
Are all these ratings accurate?
Different teachers and researchers criticize this way of ranking and making combinations, especially in research, teaching, rates for students who did not finished their studies etc. Some of the most important teachers and influential professors emphasize that some of the combinations of scores are just wrong for several reasons. First, universities are more prone to just chasing ranking. Second, fluctuation of the same university from one year to another is just a statistical measurement. And as a last reason, in this manner the government seems to want to have some kind of influence.
Given rankings in this article, and some other not mentioned here, are hard to compare and give better perspective. Also, some institutions with very high reputations and prestige, are not mentioned. This can give a somewhat wrong impression.
Another issue in these rankings are the exclusion of part – time students. There are several universities which provide part-time education, and yet they have good ranking in students’ satisfactions and research.
As a conclusion, ranking is a tool which measure the output of each university. But we must also consider to get in touch with the universities in person. We strongly advice to also search the webpage of the universities and their curriculum.
Differences between UK rankings and worldwide one
Some universities have better rankings in the UK, and are on much lower positions in worldwide scene. And there are the some that are bad at UK rakings table, but are better in international picture. This difference is due different way of testing on global scale.
Universities form us as people and leads to our future profession. That is why we need to pay special attention when choosing.
As above mentioned, rankings are quite important for making reasonable decision. But, we also need to take further searching via internet, via universities’ offices for information, maybe via personal visit on their open day for new students. Also, we need to have information about the living costs and the place where we intend to live (if we are going to move to the UK). In the bigger cities, like London, the expenses are higher, so we also need to consider this too.
All in all, the most famous ratings for the UK universities are trustworthy. We must keep in mind to expand the information from the university ratings and make decision. The one that will shape us into the world of adults, and will make our dreams come true.
Thanks for Reading "ARE UK UNIVERSITY RANKINGS ACTUALLY USEFUL 2022/2023? ARE LEAGUE TABLES GOOD? " Written by Israt90 for Mr Univeristy *Note, full t&c on website. Prices, rankings & Information changes over time. All Information here is opinion based and all information should be fact checked*