Ranking

Hi what is the most trusted site for universities ranking?

Hi what is the most trusted site for universities ranking?

Generally I would say compile your own research & form your own opinions (if you want data sources perhaps consider sourcing data from objective measurables with clearly defined measurements things like teaching quality: TEF, research quality: REF, employability: look at the employment data or high-fliers guide survey results).

I am not a massive fan of the uni league tables they all tend to have fairly arbitrary weightings and (imo) often questionable data gathering and processing methods. Im of the opinion they generally pick metrics which sound nice but without any real depth in the justification.

Develop a criteria of what is important to you in a university, and research around those criteria

For demographics of each uni (important to me cause I want the right balance of feeling like I belong without being surrounded by people the exact same as me) I've been using UCAS application data:

https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-sector-level-end-cycle-data-resources-2021/2021-entry-ucas-undergraduate-reports-sex-area-background-and-ethnic-group

For actual rankings I've been using the Guardian league tables which rank based on course (CompSci), but I'm not sure how much I can rely on them as someone who already has prior experience in CompSci and therefore is coming in with a different level of knowledge and different goals from the average student studying CompSci. If I'd known early on that were was a more objective measure of teaching quality I would have used that instead.


How does the TEF assess teaching quality? Is it not self-reported like the Guardian league tables?

Tef is a regulated metric of university teaching quality.

So how is it actually measured?

I use QS World University Rankings but there are others. Kind regards.