[CharliePhillips]

What is the most trustworthy University ranker, I mean there's loads and there all different. I'm pretty sure the three main ones are 'QS Ranker', 'The independents complete uni guide' and 'THE university rankings' But there all different for example I'm interested in UCL..

On QS, its 7th in the world
on The independent, its 7th in the UK
on THE, its 17th in the world...

It's very confusing on which to trust though I've read that QS is the most used ranker and most accurate...

[dj1015]

How about decide which university you want to go to with out the aid of biased league tables.

[SpicyStrawberry]

You can't really trust any of them to make an informed decision, the only way you can do that is visiting the unis themselves on open days, talking to current students and lecturers etc. Just because a uni is ranked highly doesn't necessarily mean it is excellent for your course or you personally, so it's always good to keep that in mind.

[Aeschylus]

Each one is different and uses different methodology. If you care that much about it (and bare in mind league tables are certainly not the be all and end all), look into how each table is compiled.

[threeportdrift]

(Original post by CharliePhillips)
What is the most trustworthy University ranker, I mean there's loads and there all different. I'm pretty sure the three main ones are 'QS Ranker', 'The independents complete uni guide' and 'THE university rankings' But there all different for example I'm interested in UCL..

On QS, its 7th in the world
on The independent, its 7th in the UK
on THE, its 17th in the world...

It's very confusing on which to trust though I've read that QS is the most used ranker and most accurate...

None of them is 'the most accurate'. They all work by collating their own choice of the available statistics and combining them in various ways to create a ranking. So if you want to know what the relative value of a rank is to you, then you need to look at the measures that make up each specific league table.

The QS ranking looks at international factors and doesn't count many factors that UK students applying to UK universities will be bothered with. Similarly the Times and Guardian league tables measure very different things and depending on what your priorities are, you might prefer or dismiss one or other.

It stands to reason that league tables produce different results if you think about it. By and large they are produced by newspapers or commercial organisations. There is simply no news value or sales value in confirming the same result as any other league table producer. You put together your justified set of metrics and then argue that they hold more value than anyone elses.

So if you are going to be persuaded by league tables, choose your league table carefully, and be aware that you are probably being guided by the preferences of the editor of a Sunday newspaper and his/her marketing strategy.

[Meat is Murder]

Whichever one ranks my uni the highest

[Tesphena]

I use unistats. It offers a variety of data and it seems to be pretty unbiased.

http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/

[alexs2602]

(Original post by SpicyStrawberry)
You can't really trust any of them to make an informed decision, the only way you can do that is visiting the unis themselves on open days, talking to current students and lecturers etc. Just because a uni is ranked highly doesn't necessarily mean it is excellent for your course or you personally, so it's always good to keep that in mind.

This. I mean they're ok for rough guides but that's it. Guardian ranking is definitely flawed. I think you're better off using TSR members' opinions in some ways.

[thelawstudent]

(Original post by Tesphena)
I use unistats. It offers a variety of data and it seems to be pretty unbiased.

http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/

i second this. Unistats my friend