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

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Zweihander

All I'm saying is is that Andrews is the best Scotland has to offer.

But it's not. Not alone.

Also, you criticise St Andrews for allowing William in with modest grades. Although I do appreciate that 10 years ago it wasn't quite as selective as it is now (with it being more popular), the same can be said of a number of other universities. Ten years ago, with fewer people applying and grade inflation, altough present, not quite as bad is it is now) universities had generally modest typical offers. Even now you can get into one or two courses at Durham or UCL with BBB. Ten years ago it was certainly possible to get in a number of departments with ABC-BBC.

Reply 221

Smack

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Zweihander

And your point is?

My point should have been fairly obvious even to a child ffs. :rolleyes:

All I'm saying is that Andrews is the best Scotland has to offer, and in reality it's not half as good as it's perceived to be.

St Andrews isn't any better than any of the other Scottish universities.

Reply 222

Smack

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River85

I don't think he's aware that in Scotland we don't actually use A-levels so our university's A-level offers are going to be a bit random.

Reply 223

brainy_girish

hello guys i am an pros pective for 2011 for post graduate in uk i need to look at the times league table 2011 which i'm not able to see on website now.................please can any one help me................

Reply 224

brainy_girish

league table 2011

hey guys can any one provide the screen shot of league table then please help i'm new and the times weebsite is asking for resggistration please help me

Reply 225

Clearing and Applications Advisor

brainy_girish

the Times league table uses data aimed at undergraduate students - the only postgraduate UK league tables are from the guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/series/postgraduate-subject-tables-2009-10 (and they don't rank universities they just provide information).

depending on subject there are also guides published by QS (top grad school and topmba) and for a handful of subjects there are the CHE European Excellence rankings: http://www.excellenceranking.org/eusid/EUSID

Reply 226

polka_dott

Prince Charles was allowed into Cambridge and he certainly did not have AAA at A Level (something like a B and a C at A Level!)... so it could be argued royalty get an easy ride when it comes to university admissions!

Reply 227

Good bloke

polka_dott

Although it seems likely he wasn't really of Cambridge material, back in pre-grade inflation 1970, AAA was a fairly unusual occurrence and certainly not necessary for Oxbridge admission.

Reply 228

0404343m

polka_dott

Actually, in this instance I don't think William did get an easy ride: St Andrews entry requirement were BBC or BCC depending on the course around 2000 at A-Level- and they're now AAB. He got those grades. Whether you'd expect someone with the best schooling and none of the other teenage pressures (I'd take being a Prince and getting the odd photographer annoying me over a part time job during exams any time) to have done much better than that is debateable though. He went to St Andrews for good reasons though, and he probably got away from prying eyes more than if he'd went to Newcastle. If he'd went to Newcastle and their applications had quadrupled too- it might well be them that people seem desperate to go to- usually fashionability means a league table bounce for various reasons, but that's another point altogether. I just think William didn't get in because he was royal in this case. It is worth noting that St Andrews back then had lower entry req than their main two Scottish rivals and much closer to Aberdeen and Dundee. People that applied before then will still be in their 20s now- it ain't a long time ago.

Charles is a completely different story. His BC was, even then, well below entry levels for lots of places, let alone Cambridge.

Reply 229

AfghanistanBananistan

I thought i would post this here since their web site is down at the time of writing.

The ARWU ranking is pretty much the same as last years, but it is interesting since most consider this to be the most effective ACADEMIC ranking of the biggest multifaculty universities in the world (esp in academia)

The UK top 10 are (last years in brackets):

5 Cambridge (4)
10 Oxford (10)
21 UCL (21)
26 Imperial (26)
44 Manchester (41)
54 Edinburgh (53)
63 King’s London (65)
66 Bristol (61)
84 Nottingham (83)
88 Sheffield (81)
99 Birmingham (94)

The link is: http://www.arwu.org/

Reply 230