Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom

Three national rankings of universities in the United Kingdom are published annually – by The Complete University Guide, The Guardian and jointly by The Times and The Sunday Times. Rankings have also been produced in the past by The Daily Telegraph and Financial Times.

The primary aim of the rankings is to inform potential undergraduate 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. All of the league tables also rank universities on their strength in individual subjects.

Each year since 2008, Times Higher Education has compiled a "Table of Tables" to combine the results of the 3 mainstream league tables. In 2015, the top 5 universities were the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of St Andrews with the London School of Economics and Imperial College London tied for 4th place. The 5 universities also claim the top 5 positions in the ranking of British universities by national reputation. In 2015, they were the only universities in the UK to have no places available in either clearing or adjustment and in 2014, the 5 universities occupied the top 5 positions for the entry tariff of its students.

Rankings

The following rankings of British universities are produced annually:

The Complete University Guide

The Complete University Guide is compiled by Mayfield University Consultants (which had previously compiled university rankings for The Times). It was published for the first time in The Daily Telegraph in 2007, when it was known as The Good University Guide, and was produced in association with The Independent from 2008 to 2011.

The ranking uses nine criteria, with a statistical technique called the Z-transformation applied to the results of each. The nine Z-scores 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. These total scores are then transformed to a scale where the top score is set at 1,000, with the remainder being a proportion of the top score. The nine criteria are:

• "Academic services spend" – the expenditure per student on all academic services (data source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA));
• "Completion" – a measure of the completion rate of students (data source: HESA);
• "Entry standards" – the average UCAS tariff score of new students under the age of 21 (data source: HESA);
• "Facilities spend" – the expenditure per student on staff and student facilities (data source: HESA);
• "Good honours" – the proportion of firsts and upper seconds (data source: HESA);
• "Graduate prospects" – a measure of the employability of graduates (data source: HESA);
• "Research assessment/quality" – a measure of the average quality of research (data source: 2008 Research Assessment Exercise - note HESA have required the compilers to publish a disclaimer on the way that HESA data has been used with RAE data );
• "Student satisfaction" – a measure of the view of students on the teaching quality (data source: the National Student Survey); and
• "Student:staff ratio" – a measure of the average staffing level (data source: HESA).

The most recent league table (2016) ranked the top 50 (out of 126) British universities as follows:

Rank (1-10)	University	Rank (11-20)	University	Rank (21-30)	University	Rank (31-40)	University	Rank (41-50)	University
1	University of Cambridge	11	University of Bath	21	University of Sussex	31	Cardiff University	41	City University
2	University of Oxford	11	Loughborough University	22	University of Kent	32	Aston University	42	University of Dundee
3	London School of Economics	13	University College, London	23	King's College London	33	QMUL	43	SOAS
4	Imperial College London	14	University of Southampton	24	University of Leicester	34	Royal Holloway, University of London	44	St George's, University of London
=5	Durham University	15	University of Bristol	25	University of Nottingham	35	Essex University	45	Swansea University
=5	University of St Andrews	16	University of East Anglia	26	Newcastle University	36	Queen's University Belfast	46	Keele University
7	University of Warwick	17	University of York	27	University of Sheffield	37	Heriot-Watt University	47	University of Stirling
8	University of Surrey	18	University of Birmingham	28	University of Manchester	38	Strathclyde University	48	Coventry University
9	University of Lancaster	19	University of Leeds	29	University of Reading	39	University of Liverpool	49	Brunel University
10	University of Exeter	20	University of Edinburgh	30	University of Glasgow	40	University of Aberdeen	50	Goldsmiths, University of London

The Guardian

The Guardian's ranking uses eight different criteria, each weighted between 5 and 17 per cent. Unlike other annual rankings of British universities, the criteria do not include a measure of research output. A "value-added" factor is included which compares students' degree results with their entry qualifications, described by the newspaper as being "[b]ased 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". The eight criteria are:

• "Entry score" (17%);
• "Feedback" – as rated by graduates of the course (5%);
• "Job prospects" (17%) (data source: Destination of Leavers from Higher Education);
• "Overall quality" – final-year students opinions about the overall quality of their course (data source: the National Student Survey);
• "Spending per student" (17%);
• "Staff/student ratio" (17%);
• "Teaching quality" – as rated by graduates of the course (10%) (data source: the National Student Survey); and
• "Value added" (17%).

The most recent league table (2016) ranked the top 50 (out of 119) British universities as follows:

Rank (1-10)	University	Rank (11-20)	University	Rank (21-30)	University	Rank (31-40)	University	Rank (41-50)	University
1	University of Cambridge	11	Loughborough University	21	University of Edinburgh	31	University of Falmouth	41	University of Aberdeen
2	University of Oxford	12	University College London	22	University of York	32	University of Leicester	42	Keele University
3	University of St Andrews	13	London School of Economics	23	Leeds University	33	Aston University	43	University of Sheffield
4	University of Surrey	14	University of Southampton	24	University of Glasgow	34	University of Strathclyde	44	University of the Arts, London
5	University of Bath	15	Coventry University	25	University of Reading	35	University of Bristol	45	Queen's University, Belfast
=6	Durham University	16	University of Kent	26	SOAS	36	King's College London	46	Robert Gordon University
=6	University of Warwick	17	University of Birmingham	27	University of Cardiff	37	City University	47	University of Essex
8	Imperial College London	18	Heriot-Watt University	28	University of Nottingham	38	QMUL	48	Oxford Brookes University
9	University of Exeter	19	University of Sussex	29	University of Manchester	39	University of Dundee	49	University of Portsmouth
10	Lancaster University	20	University of East Anglia	30	Newcastle University	40	Royal Holloway	50	Goldsmiths, University of London

The Times/The Sunday Times

The Times/The Sunday Times university league table, known as the Good University Guide, is published in both electronic and print format and ranks institutions using the following eight criteria:

• "Student satisfaction (+50 to -55 points)" – the results of national student surveys are scored taking a theoretical minimum and maximum score of 50% and 90% respectively (data source: the National Student Survey);
• "Teaching excellence (250)" – defined as: subjects scoring at least 22/24 points, those ranked excellent, or those undertaken more recently in which there is confidence in academic standards and in which teaching and learning, student progression and learning resources have all been ranked commendable (data source: Quality Assurance Agency; Scottish Higher Education Funding Council; Higher Education Funding Council for Wales);
• "Heads'/peer assessments (100)" – school heads are asked to identify the highest-quality undergraduate provision (data source: The Sunday Times heads' survey and peer assessment);
• "Research quality (200)" – based upon the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (data source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce));
• "A-level/Higher points (250)" – nationally audited data for the subsequent academic year are used for league table calculations (data source: HESA);
• "Unemployment (100)" – the number of students assume to be unemployed six months after graduation is calculated as a percentage of the total number of known desbefore completing their courses is compared with the number expected to do so (the benchmark figure shown in brackets) (data source: Hefce, Performance Indicators in Higher Education).

Other criteria considered are:

• "Completion" – the percentage of students who manage to complete their degree;
• "Entry standards" – the average UCAS tariff score (data source: HESA);
• "Facilities spending" – the average expenditure per student on sports, careers services, health and counselling;
• "Good honours" – the percentage of students graduating with a first or 2.1;
• "Graduate prospects" – the percentage of UK graduates in graduate employment or further study (data source: HESA's survey of Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE));
• "Library and computing spending" – the average expenditure on library and computer services per student (data source: HESA);
• "Research" (data source: 2008 Research Assessment Exercise);
• "Student satisfaction" (data source: National Student Survey); and
• "Student-staff ratio" (data source: HESA).

Summary of National Rankings

The following universities rank in the top 10 in at least one of the national rankings:

University	Complete (2016)	Guardian (2016)	#a
University of Cambridge	1	1	3c
University of Oxford	2	2	3c
Imperial College London	4	8	3
University of St Andrews	5	3	3b
Durham University	5	6	3
University of Warwick	7	6	3
University of Exeter	10	9	3
University of Surrey	8	4	3
London School of Economics	3	13	2
University College London	13	12	1
Lancaster University	9	10	2
University of Bath	11	5	1

Notes:
^a Number of times the university is ranked within the top 10 of one of the three national rankings.
^b The university is ranked within the top 5 of all three national rankings.
^c The university is ranked within the top 3 of all three national rankings.

Disparity with global rankings

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 St Andrews and LSE (in the case of LSE 3rd to 13th nationally whilst only 327th in the US News & World Report Rankings / 35th in the QS Rankings / 23rd in the THE Rankings), "inhabit surprisingly low ranks in the worldwide tables", whilst other universities such as Manchester and KCL "that failed to do well in the domestic rankings have shone much brighter on the international stage". 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. 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 quality of a university's intake, employment prospects, research quality and dropout rates.

The disparity between national and international league tables has caused some institutions to offer public explanations for the difference. LSE for example states on its website that 'we remain concerned that all of the global rankings - by some way the most important for us, given our highly international orientation - suffer from inbuilt biases in favour of large multi-faculty universities with full STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) offerings, and against small, specialist, mainly non-STEM universities such as LSE.'

British Universities in Global Rankings

The following universities rank in the top 100 of at least two global rankings:

See also: College and university rankings

University	QS World (2015/16)	THE World (2015/16)	ARWU World (2015)	CWTS Leiden (2015)	#a
University of Cambridge	3	4	5	23	4c
University of Oxford	6	2	10	17	4c
University College London	7	14	18	32	4b
Imperial College London	8	8	23	33	4b
King's College London	19	27	55	35	4
University of Edinburgh	21	24	47	63	4
University of Manchester	33	56	41	152	3
London School of Economics	35	23	101-150	112	2
University of Bristol	37	69	66	43	4
University of Warwick	48	80	92	77	4
Durham University	61	70	201-300	90	3
University of Glasgow	62	76	101-150	96	3
University of St Andrews	68	86	301-400	45	3
University of Sheffield	80	97	101-150	160	2
Queen Mary University of London	109	98	151-200	87	2
University of Exeter	161	93	151-200	34	2

Notes:
^a Number of times the university is ranked within the top 100 of one of the four global rankings.
^b The university is ranked within the top 50 of all four global rankings.
^c The university is ranked within the top 25 of all four global rankings.

Criticism

UK university rankings have been subject to criticism.

Accuracy and neutrality

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.' He also criticised 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. Further worries have been expressed regarding marketing strategies and propaganda used to chase tables undermining Universities values.

The Guardian suggests that league tables may affect the nature of undergraduate admissions in an attempt to improve a university's league table position.

Roger Brown, the former Vice Chancellor of Southampton Solent University argues the limitations of comparative data when comparing Universities.

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.

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).

Full-time bias

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. 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. 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).

External links

• The Complete University Guide
• Guardian University Guide
• The Sunday Times University Guide (password-protected)
• Global University Rankings: United Kingdom