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University rankings

Who's ranking is more accurate or respected, the Guardians or the Times good university ranking?
Reply 1
Avatar for baba_moon
baba_moon
8
there both dodgy tbh
guardians i think...
Reply 3
Avatar for aeiou81
aeiou81
10
Look at how they're calculated and decide what's ore important for you. The Guardian relies heavily on "student satisfaction" ratings, whereas the Times tends to look more at research quality, which, while important, probably isn't that fundamental to an undergraduate.

Personally I prefer the Times because I don't care about student satisfaction and it seems more genuine to me, but it's up to you.

Also, check out unistats.com, which gives you a whole load of data for each course and university, so you can make your mind up without newspapers trying to mislead you.
They rank different things - The Guardian is the only league table to factor in teaching quality, and emphasises it quite strongly. The Times is probably more respected, and focuses on the quality of research done at universities. Usually they're pretty much in agreement, since teaching and research go hand-in-hand, but not always. For example, my department here at Leicester is ranked 8th in the Guardian, but in the 20s in the Times.

To be honest, don't pay much attention to any league tables. They are there for willy-waving. It's much more important to go to a university that feels right to you, rather one that ranks more highly.
I personally have always thought the Times was more accurate, even if it ranks warwick lower than the guardian does *shakes fist*
I like the Times one better
Reply 7
Avatar for jamz0770
jamz0770
15
Ive always regarded the times as the better of the two.
Reply 8
Avatar for sarubobo28
sarubobo28
8
I don't know why but I tend to rely on Times more than I do for the Guardian...
Their tables look quite different for my subject so I just visited unis they ranked highly and chose the ones that I liked from them.
Times, but i have never seen the guardian one and am about to have a look
Reply 10
Avatar for 0404343m
0404343m
17
King-Panther
Who's ranking is more accurate or respected, the Guardians or the Times good university ranking?


No ranking is more or less 'accurate' than another, unless you're suggesting one of them pulled stats out of thin air- they're both 100% accurate, based on the data used and the method chosen to construct the table. They're entirely subjective, they pick things that the compilers of the table thought students would care about, churned the numbers together and put the highest scorers at the top. Does it mean #10 did better than #30? Yes. Does it therefore mean #10 is a superior university than #30 and you'd be crazy to choose the latter over the former? Not at all.
Reply 11
Avatar for achard
achard
7
If you're going to follow one, then do so with the Times' one.
King-Panther
Who's ranking is more accurate or respected, the Guardians or the Times good university ranking?


Neither.
I don't see the point of league tables, so neither
Reply 14
Avatar for bluemax
bluemax
16
I tend to rely on the the Times.
Aphotic Cosmos
They are there for willy-waving.


Care to elaborate? :rofl:

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