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The bumper thread of University League Tables discussion - includes an info post

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The guides come with a comprehensive explanation of how they are scored.

I would say more but 0404343m has absolutely nailed it.

Reply 41

Liverpool F.C.™

A lot of people these days choose uni's solely based on the league tables. Quite pathetic...

Reply 42

Mask Of Sanity

They can be based on varying things, of which they are quite clear to name. Their value however, is how much value you place on them.

Reply 43

NDGAARONDI

Liverpool F.C.™

A lot of people these days choose uni's solely based on the league tables. Quite pathetic...

What's worse is that they are endorsed by universities who cite their 'achievements' in the league tables on their websites and everything else. Durham do this and it's helping me jump for joy when my last day at Durham arrives.

Reply 44

River85

NDGAARONDI

http://www.dur.ac.uk/about/achievements/

:p:

(and ignoring the table they do more modestly in!).

lady_leon

As Bristol is right next to York on the league tables and I'd say York is much more lenient in letting people in when I'm pretty sure Bristol isn't.

Well they aren't simply lists of universities ordered by how hard it is to get an offer from them/get into them if you miss an offer.

04 has already explained it, but league tables use a range of criteria and it will vary by table. By domestic league tables typically look at student satisfaction (results of the NSS), research (results of the 2008 RAE), entry standards

York may or may ot be more lenient in letting people in (although I'm sure this varies by course) but this doesn't mean they shouldn't be placed above Bristol in a league table if York outperforms it in key criteria.

I don't know if you're aware, but in the Independent's table as well as providing an explanation of the criteria used in the tables (as all unis do) you can see that research and student satisfaction are given more of a weighting than the other criteria are (individually speaking). You can even fiddle around with the weightings (which changes the university positions around). It displays why they shouldn't be used too seriously as they are just a set of statistics given fairly arbitary weightings. A little messing about and you can get different results.

Reply 45

sarahcunnane

I don't know whether people will have seen, but there's going to be a new set of world university rankings compiled by Times Higher Education out later this year. More on them can be found here: http://www.i-studentadvisor.com/blog/international-education/thomson-reuters-to-compile-new-times-world-university-rankings/

Reply 46

Ami34

Are there any specific subject table because I'm looking for a art and design course and as the forum has said before,you can't judge the uni completely on the league tables (which some people I know do).

Reply 47

Paulwhy

Ami34

Yes: all 3 newspapers do subject specific versions.
But for an example of what can happen if you don't use league tables properly look here:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=23510244#post23510244

Reply 48

LutherVan

This is the best league table I have seen:

http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-141689.0.html

First Division
1) Cambridge
2) Oxford
3) Imperial
4) LSE
5) UCL
6) Bristol
7) Warwick
8) Edinburgh
9) King's College London
10) St Andrews
11) Durham
12) York
13) Bath
14) Manchester
15) Nottingham
16) Sheffield
17) Birmingham
18) Southampton
19) Lancaster
20) Newcastle
21) Leeds
22) Loughborough
23) Exeter
24) Glasgow

Reply 49

Leo.D

im trying to decide whether i should study economics at sheffield or Liverpool, looking at the league tables from the guardian and the times really hasn't helped. The guardian rates liverpool as 22nd whcih is quite impressive while sheffield is miles behind at 46. However the times has a completely different view, putting sheffield 18 and liverpool 28.
does anyone know why the tables differ so much and/or which would be better to trust ?

Reply 50

PantryLeader

Dont trust any league table. In the last few years they have all gone haywire, and lost virtually all credibility by using stupid criteria. They used to be reasonably consistent, but not now.

To get a good indicator of reputation check the ranking of the uni for the last 20 odd years, then you'll get a good picture

But if I was too choose a ranking, then look at the Sunday Times as it tends to look reasonablly consistent/accurate most years, and definitely ignore the Guardian

Reply 51

hamzab

Leo.D

Instead of Rankings, I would use Unistats.com and find out which University sends their applicants into more Graduate level jobs.

However, IMO, Sheffield is better than Liverpool for Econ, look at TAELT.

Reply 52

tobic1234

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone can comment on why Southampton Solent University is ranked 111th in the Times Good University Guide 2010 - http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php

What factors have governed it's ranking and why is it so low in the rankings?

Someone asked me today and I had no idea why Southampton Solent has this ranking, what's holding it back from moving up the rankings?

Cheers for any help on this question :yep:

Reply 53

grahamB

I was looking today at the league tables for Maths.

My offer from Sussex is AAB, Exeter AAA, UEA ABB, Portsmouth BBB

Yet Portsmouth, according to the Times, is better than UEA and Sussex and only SLIGHTLY worse than Exeter?!

So in terms of employment, would it be best to go to Portsmouth over Sussex and UEA?

Reply 54

+ polarity -

2 rather different questions. :colonhash:

Reply 55

forsaken_earth

in terms of employment, you'll need to get on as many internships as you can and do well at uni

its not rocket science init

Reply 56

Smack

Volunteer Team

League Tables are pretty much some journalist numerically ranking certain aspects of universities that he's most likely never been to, and courses that he's almost certainly never studied, so he can fit them into a neat and easy to read table.

They're a relatively new idea... not so long ago, students would have made the decision of which uni to go to for which course without them.

People on TSR generally put far too much stock in them. They're not the be all end all ... and are in fact pretty worthless.

Reply 57

Tsukuyomi

League tables do have some importance, but that doesnt mean you should follow what a table says

Reply 58

grahamB

But in terms of employment, would Portsmouth be a better option than UEA or Sussex because of the tables?

I was always led to believe that the higher the grade requirements, the better the course/higher the demand...