2017 University League Tables by The Guardian

The 2017 university league table by The Guardian has been published yesterday and there are a few changes in ranking when compared to the 2016 league table. In particular, significant changes in ranking for the top 20 universities include the universities of Loughborough, Warwick, Bath, Birmingham, Leeds and City University.

The top 10 universities for 2017 are listed in order as:

1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. St Andrews
4. Surrey
5. Loughborough
6. Durham
7. Imperial College
8. Lancaster
9. Warwick
10. Bath.

The league table places emphasis on slightly different criteria compared to other university league tables, by taking into account the criteria of: satisfaction with course, satisfaction with teaching, satisfaction with feedback, student to staff ratio, spend per student, entry tariff, value added score and career after 6 months.

In particular, the satisfaction with course criteria represents the percentage of final-year students satisfied with overall quality, based on the National Student Survey (NSS). Satisfaction with teaching represents the percentage of final-year students satisfied with the teaching based on data from the NSS. Satisfaction with feedback represents the percentage of final-year students that are satisfied with the overall feedback received from lecturers. Entry tariff is the typical UCAS score that the student obtained before entry to the university. Value added score considers the entry UCAS score and evaluate the improvement of grade whilst studying in the university.

It should be noted that one should be careful in selecting universities based on any single league table as the criteria used by each study are different which can significantly affect the ranking of universities. Therefore, when deciding to select a university for study, it is advisable to assess multiple league tables such as QS rankings or the Times Higher Education as well as course-specific league tables, whilst taking into account the ranking criteria used in the league table in order to make the choice that is right for you.

Further details of the Guardian league table can be found in the link below:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2016/may/23/university-league-tables-2017