Bristol University's demise

Do you think the quality of the university of Bristol and the graduates it produces has declined over time since the mid 2000's?

Reply 1

Inazuma

20

I would love to hear some crackpot theory as to why anyone would think that, with at least a shred of evidence.

P.S. My answer is of course, no. Seen no basis for anything of the sort.
The only thing that's declined is league table garbage, but as I say, that's all garbage anyway.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

98Englishstuden1

I'm also interested to find out about this as i am finding the drop in league tables slightly worrying. I know people say ti doesn't matter but surely it says something that they've been consistently slipping through the league tables for the past 5 years. My subject, english, has dropped from 10th to 20th on CUG's 2017 page. I know student satisfaction is low and ive heard from current students that lecturers can be closed off and hours are minimal. However, the english department is putting up hours for next year and modifying the course. Is the library situation really that bad?

I only ask this because i also have an offer from Warwick which is a grade lower, higher in international and national rankings for english and a consistently top 10 uni, whereas now Bristol is in the 20-30s. However, i fell in love with bristol as a city and as i love going on nights out, to gigs etc. I'm worried i might get bored at Warwick- i know uni is what you make it but...

Oh and i also have an unconditional offer from nottingham but i have missed the accommodation deadline and would probably have wanted to be in broadgate park.

I'm also interested in what careers services they offer for english students as ideally i'd love to work in journalism or media but would also be interested in marketing, publishing and other fields. Sorry to bombard- thanks

Reply 3

Inazuma

20

Original post by 98Englishstuden1

I'm also interested to find out about this as i am finding the drop in league tables slightly worrying. I know people say ti doesn't matter but surely it says something that they've been consistently slipping through the league tables for the past 5 years. My subject, english, has dropped from 10th to 20th on CUG's 2017 page. I know student satisfaction is low and ive heard from current students that lecturers can be closed off and hours are minimal. However, the english department is putting up hours for next year and modifying the course. Is the library situation really that bad?

I only ask this because i also have an offer from Warwick which is a grade lower, higher in international and national rankings for english and a consistently top 10 uni, whereas now Bristol is in the 20-30s. However, i fell in love with bristol as a city and as i love going on nights out, to gigs etc. I'm worried i might get bored at Warwick- i know uni is what you make it but...

Oh and i also have an unconditional offer from nottingham but i have missed the accommodation deadline and would probably have wanted to be in broadgate park.

I'm also interested in what careers services they offer for english students as ideally i'd love to work in journalism or media but would also be interested in marketing, publishing and other fields. Sorry to bombard- thanks

Not sure what you mean by library situation? If you mean lack of spaces, they've just opened a new study space at Beacon House to accomodate more people.

Going to quote in my previous longer answer on this:

[quote]

I hate these ranking so much lol.
Ignore them.

I'm quoting in my own and ReturnMigrant's posts on this subject:

Original post by returnmigrant

Student Satisfaction surveys are a load of nonsense and certainly not worth taking seriously when you are deciding on a Uni.

By definition the data is already out of date - these are people who graduated last June, therefore they started the course at least 4 years before you will. The course, the tutors and the dept have all changed - what they were grumbling about then will now be irrelevant. Many students tend to use SS surveys as an opportunity to whinge about daft stuff like Dr X being on maternity leave for 6 months or the fact that the coffee machine was moved to the basement, and not anything that actually matters.

Take those things with a pinch of salt. NSS is lazily filled out, and often by people with gripes.
...

The main issue I note was feedback - I can't say for certain, but the uni have been working on improving feedback by returning scripts etc (I'm not sure which depts have had this rolled out, or when though)

Some of the scores on unistats website I've noticed before make little sense.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 4

98Englishstuden1

Oh Yh I meant the study space thing. Are you Bristol students- would you say it's still top class?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 5

Inazuma

20

Original post by 98Englishstuden1

Oh Yh I meant the study space thing. Are you Bristol students- would you say it's still top class?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ahh okay, well as I said that's why they opened the new space (hence why half these surveys are out of whack).

It remains heavily respected as an institution amongst employers, and will for the foreseeable future as a prestigious uni.
I rank that far more than what some old, disgruntled students think, yes.
Career prospects > how far the union is.

The surveys suggest that, since I got here, it's got far worse, and that simply is completely false; they've made many improvements even since I've been here.

If you want some more realistic rankings, take a look at world uni rankings. Bristol is among the few British unis who makes top 100 at 37th - the only others above are Oxbridge, typical London ones, Manc and Edinburgh.
That's based on actually relevant methodology - employer and academic reputation for instance.
Or even look at Global Employability University Survey 2015. 9th place.

Hope you're catching my drift here!

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

98Englishstuden1

Original post by Inazuma

Ahh okay, well as I said that's why they opened the new space (hence why half these surveys are out of whack).

It remains heavily respected as an institution amongst employers, and will for the foreseeable future as a prestigious uni.
I rank that far more than what some old, disgruntled students think, yes.
Career prospects > how far the union is.

The surveys suggest that, since I got here, it's got far worse, and that simply is completely false; they've made many improvements even since I've been here.

If you want some more realistic rankings, take a look at world uni rankings. Bristol is among the few British unis who makes top 100 at 37th - the only others above are Oxbridge, typical London ones, Manc and Edinburgh.
That's based on actually relevant methodology - employer and academic reputation for instance.
Or even look at Global Employability University Survey 2015. 9th place.

Hope you're catching my drift here!

I get what you mean- new league tables aren't taking recent improvements into account. sounds good thanks!