I've been debating which to university to firm and despite KCL having a better location for law and being a couple places higher on the league tables for law. (5th on CUG vs Bristol who are 8th at the moment) I find myself doubting whether or not to firm Kings for many reasons which I'll list.
1) KCL seems to have been degrading in general reputation for the past 4-5 years. With a sharp drop off in both QS and CUG rankings, I find myself wondering whether the prestige of KCL will carry on such a decline during my degree.
2) There seems to be a general consensus that KCL's staff and admin DO NOT CARE for their students in any capacity. Of course, they are a research based institution and most lecturers are there to research, not to teach. But it must be taken into consideration if I am going to be taught by lecturers who do not seem to care. Furthermore, I am hearing that their admin is notoriously bad, with medicine students being given their timetables super late and emails of requests by students taking months to get back.
3) KCL have one of the worst student satisfaction rates of any uni. Of course, many people are quick to argue this statistic does not matter but this does not make sense to me. A good uni, to me at least, prioritizes the happiness and wellbeing of their students who are paying high amounts of money to live/study there.
4) I have heard that it is quite an isolating uni due to the campuses being spread apart so much, making it hard to make friends without going to many different societies. (Though, I appreciate that this is not the biggest factor)
I was wondering whether such points are enough to warrant firming Bristol Law instead, as it seems as though their student satisfaction rates are higher, and their course is still highly respected, and much less people who go there seem to hate their experience.