UK University Rankings 2014

In spite of UK education is collectively renowned for its high quality, innovative teaching and academic excellence, individual universities have their own merits, and are vary in key performance and strength of individual subjects, as well as entry standards, staff/student ratio, academic facilities expenditure, research quality, completion rates and career destinations, etc. This gives reasons for university rankings.

In general, the higher ranking of the institution the better it may be regarded by the future employers. An international survey by the Times found that university rankings and reputation were most important to students based in China, nominated as the top priority by 37.8%, followed by India and the Middle East, but 65.1% participants considered the subject rankings were more important compared with 34.9% who in favour of institutional rankings.

In our opinions, for those international students coming to study in the UK from a rather complementary education system, such as China, the subject strength of a university should be treated as the most important factor in deciding on a course, because ultimately, it is what a student studies that matters to his/her passion, dreams and future career. Thus, it is vital for parents or students look beyond the university league tables while choosing a university, and look in details of the particular course at that particular university in a particular city that could directly affect the student’s university experience and learning outcome. Click here to see the UK University Subject League Tables ranked by the Guardian.

The following table lists two of the most popular university ranking tables 2014 – The Guardian University League Table vs The Times Good University Guide.

The Guardian’s rankings are based on the following eight different criteria:

1. “Entry score” (17%);
2. “Feedback” – as rated by graduates of the course (5%);
3. “Job prospects” (17%);
4. “Overall quality” – final-year students opinions about the overall quality of their course;
5. “Spending per student” (17%);
6. “Staff/student ratio” (17%);
7. “Teaching quality” – as rated by graduates of the course (10%);
8. “Value added” (17%) – compares students’ degree results with their entry qualifications.

The Times university rankings are based on the following nine different criteria:

1. “Completion” – the percentage of students who manage to complete their degree;
2. “Entry standards” – the average UCAS tariff score;
3. “Facilities spending” – the average expenditure per student on sports, careers services, health and counselling;
4. “Good honours” – the percentage of students graduating with a first or 2.1;
5. “Graduate prospects” – the percentage of UK graduates in graduate employment or further study;
6. “Library and computing spending” – the average expenditure on library and computer services per student;
7. “Research”;
8. “Student satisfaction”;
9. “Student-staff ratio”.