University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh's reputation...

I know that rankings should be taken with a pinch of salt but, they nonetheless tell something about the quality of a university. If you base Edinburgh on world rankings, it is apparently the fifth best uni in the UK. On the other hand, it never even makes the top ten in domestic rankings... Is there a difference in criteria for international league tables or is just able to promote it's reputation much better abroad while, in reality, being really overrated?

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Reply 1

River85

Original post by HappyBappy

International rankings take peer reviews and employer reviews into account, which domestic tables tend not to do. Edinburgh, being a relatively old and large university with a reasonable research output has a decent international profile has developed a name for itself. This brand doesn't really mean much when it comes to domestic tables which, though they take research into account they do it differently (by interpreteting the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, not number of citations or number of Nobel Laureates ) so this is done in a way which doesn't necessarily favour the larger universities over some of the smaller universities. Student satisfaction is given some significant weighting in domestic tables also and Edinburgh does have a relatively poor student satisfaction score when compared with the universities in the top ten.

Edinburgh did rank in the top 10, or not far outside, in the 90s and early 00s.

However, there is no drop in quality once we reach this arbitary mark of ten (or twenty...) in league tables. Edinburgh is not necessarily "worse" than those who do rank in the top ten.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

Meat is Murder

The Complete University Guide and The Sunday Times use the exact same criteria, but they weight each one differently, hence the varying outcomes.

All tables can be manipulated to give a desired ranking.

Reply 3

Fornacite

Just on one particular note, student satisfaction seemed particularly low. Does anyone have any insight as to why that might be? Are students of certain subjects less happy than others? Or is it due to general facilities/ happiness?
Already applied, so you don't have to convince me! I'd just like to know :smile:

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Reply 4

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by Fornacite

I think there is an element of disappointment amongst students who think they are coming to the Oxbridge of the north where they will receive one-on-one tutorials etc. There are certainly flaws in Edinburgh's way of teaching etc, but no worse than I have heard from other institutions around the UK.

Reply 5

mikejoseph

I was wondering about the edinburgh history department since t doesn't seem to be doing well in the domestic tables. Is their any reason for that or should it be taken with a high dosage of salt. Because it is ranked even 26 on the complete university guide. But on international rankings as said above it does very well. My main worry is how much do employers factor in the leauge table ranking's and how much do they wiegh its international ranking and which is more important for an employer recruiting from outside the UK say in the US? Also in general how respected is edinburgh universities history department just wondering. I believe edinburgh is a great uni but the domestic tables are pretty different especially given that even newcastle is better than edinbrgh for history according to it? Finnally could anything be going on right now at the university that caused this drop?

Reply 6

Kat34

I think it may well be because it is not a campus uni. It is also an expensive city in which to live - so accommodation people live in is often not good - which translates onto general happiness.

Original post by Fornacite

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Reply 7

MartinMorrison

Not very good feedback at Edinburgh. And yes the campus isn't very well laid out! Bit of a mess really. But honestly it's not like every student you meet at Edinburgh is upset or something, I'd take those student satisfaction ratings with a grain of salt. I'm wondering how many students actually take it. The world rankings are probably slightly more reliable to go on and Edinburgh has a very good international reputation.

Reply 8

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by MartinMorrison

And conversely, I had (broadly) pretty decent feedback as student of Edinburgh. And it's not a campus university - anyone coming to Edinburgh in the belief that it is, is mad.

One significant issue in the survey is that a lot of students think they are entitled to be spoon fed, don't like it when they're not and consequently say so. Bear in mind that surveys of this nature also tend to bring out complaints because the people who are satisfied often don't take part.

Reply 9

MartinMorrison

True. I kind of automatically assumed all universities are campus universities. I feel like the way Edinburgh is laid out is pretty rare though.

In general the standard of living is a bit low.

Reply 10

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by MartinMorrison

True. I kind of automatically assumed all universities are campus universities. I feel like the way Edinburgh is laid out is pretty rare though.

In general the standard of living is a bit low.

Most of the elements of the University of London aren't campuses, the ancients in Scotland aren't, Oxford and Cambridge aren't - the UK is full of non-campus universities!

What do you mean by low standard of living?

Reply 11

MartinMorrison

Really? Edinburgh was the first out of the 4 universities I have been to that wasn't a 'campus' university. I wasn't even aware of the distinction. I thought 'campus' just meant the general area where the university is situated. I understand that some are spread across a city, but not all in cities are as spread out as say, Edinburgh. Interesting to know though. I should have probably visited before I accepted the offer there :smile:

I think mentioned above, accommodation isn't great and it's also very expensive. Worst and most expensive food I've encountered so far (especially around the university), and I have studied in England. The accommodation is a bit far away, Pollock is exactly a mile away from Central Campus (the route I walked) which I really think is pushing it, especially in the cold. You can't really stay 'on campus' and maybe not everyone realises this until they get there. I guess I just took those basic things for granted, but the other 3 places I have studied, especially where I am now, make me realise those basics are pretty important.

But it's definitely a winner academically.

Reply 12

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by MartinMorrison

Accommodation being expensive doesn't mean it's not any good - the university has plenty of pretty standard university accommodation - if you don't like uni accommodation you shouldn't live in it! The accommodation is where the accommodation is - this isn't a campus university - and we don't try to keep it secret!

Well pardon me.

Original post by nearlyheadlessian

One significant issue in the survey is that a lot of students think they are entitled to be spoon fed, don't like it when they're not and consequently say so. Bear in mind that surveys of this nature also tend to bring out complaints because the people who are satisfied often don't take part.

In which case that would be the same for all university surveys, so what you're saying doesn't really make much sense seeing as Edinburgh does oddly sub-par in terms of student satisfaction.

Reply 15

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by El_Sid

In which case that would be the same for all university surveys, so what you're saying doesn't really make much sense seeing as Edinburgh does oddly sub-par in terms of student satisfaction.

See first half of post you quoted.

Reply 16

Fornacite

Original post by MartinMorrison

Aside from the accommodation though, is the city itself good? I really liked it when I came for a few days, but is living there different to visiting?

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Reply 17

River85

Original post by nearlyheadlessian

See first half of post you quoted.

Why do you think this (students wanting to be spoonfed) is more of a problem at Edinburgh compared to other universities?

Reply 18

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by River85

Why do you think this (students wanting to be spoonfed) is more of a problem at Edinburgh compared to other universities?

The place seems to be full of students who think they've come to the Oxbridge of the north where they'll get one-on-one tutorials etc. Obviously, the reality is a long way off - so some of it is to do with expectation management - people simply expect too much of Edinburgh.

A secondary element is that the university institutionally seems to take far more of a 'let-them-work-it-out-for-themselves' approach to teaching than many other universities (even within the Russell Group) [although this is merely based on talking to peers who have studied elsewhere]. Whether for good or ill, a lot of students don't like it and that is reflected in the student satisfaction surveys.

Reply 19

kinji

What about the Edinburgh College of Art? Has it changed its academic standards since merging with the university? Is the teaching faculty more 'responsive' to the students' needs? Also, is Edinburgh that bad in terms of teaching? If so, why has it been ranked 21st in the world?