Rank your personal ranking for uk Uni’s

[lightisnotwhite]

I’ve read the league tables but interested to know what MN prefers in a Uni. Bristol for example ranks outside the top ten but MN is keen.

I think (based on these threads) Durham, St Andrews, York, Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Manchester, one of the London ones LSE?

Oxford and Cambridge are givens. So what’s next.

It is always best to choose the university that best suits the student.

If rankings are going to influence the decision, then go by one of the international rankings. QS is the one most widely used:

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. Imperial
4. UCL

16. Edinburgh 27. Manchester 35. KCL 49. LSE

@Newgirls

What is it for then? Research grants? Rather than international students? Who scores it?

Yes academic excellence and research reputation and employment opportunities for graduates as rated by global academic community and prestigious employers.

@Newgirls

Looked around Warwick a few years ago and preferred Nottingham, Exeter and a few other places too. Campus seemed dated perhaps. Great to hear it’s good. There is amazing choice in the uk.

You’re amazed it’s considered high ranking because the campus is a bit dated? I love mumsnet.

For the top ones, I’d go:
Oxford/Cambridge
St Andrews/Durham
Imperial/UCL/LSE/Warwick/Bristol.

But obviously it depend on the course.

Well yes - so many unis in the uk are very swish so was surprised to see Warwick up there. It clearly has fans!

I wonder what the ‘prestigious employers’ are? Banks, big pharma, consultancies? With places now trying to recruit blind (as mentioned above) and so many new industries out there I wonder how key all that is now.

The QS international league table is hardly the be-all-and-end all, but it is the one that’s most widely used. It has MIT in top position, followed by Oxford and then Cambridge (joint 3rd with Stanford). Imperial and UCL feature in the top 10, but surprisingly, LSE is 49th and St Andrews is in 91st.

Who is it used by?

Durham is 82 in the QS and Warwick isn’t listed at all.

Newgirls - “Who is it used by?”

People internationally in my experience (rightly or wrongly). For instance, we have relatives in the US, Canada, India and the Middle East and if they were looking at UK unis and comparing to those in the US or elsewhere in terms of “prestige,” this would be their rough guideline.

@SilkenBunny
Why are you amazed?
The business school at Warwick is very highly regarded, despite its dated campus!

Surprised people are still rating Warwick so highly after their handling of the rape chat scandal.

Re. Bristol, accommodation is an issue. They were using halls in Bath, miles away! All spread out. Criticism over their pastoral offering topped with reputation as party/drug uni. I read lots about high suicide rate but not sure how that compares to other unis.

I went to Warwick and absolutely loved it! I also loved living in Leamington in the 2nd and 3rd years. I am now (20 plus years later) a lawyer at a magic circle law firm, so haven’t done too badly

@ShanghaiDiva I think you have the wrong person - the 'amazed' person was quoting my high opinion of Warwick!

Ds graduated from Warwick last year and reached the final assessment stage for Unilever, top 6 accountancy firms etc.
No prospective employer said: we’d love to offer you a job, but are concerned that Warwick campus is a little dated and that may affect the quality of your degree..

[quote SilkenBunny]@ShanghaiDiva I think you have the wrong person - the 'amazed' person was quoting my high opinion of Warwick![/quote]
Oops.
Apologies!

The Warwick rape thing was - and remains- awful. It has certainly put me off but that doesn't mean its prestige, objectively, seems to have been dented. Had DS applied for history , I might have wanted him to overlook Warwick.

It is a bit of a faff to get to from Leuchars, but describing St Andrews as remote and northerly is laughable.

Subject is hugely important. I would say of the top 5 places to study in my field, only 2 are mentioned on this thread.

Then again, an academic would rate courses differently to a student or to commercial/industry. Different priorities.

@Newgirls

Well yes - so many unis in the uk are very swish so was surprised to see Warwick up there. It clearly has fans!

It has also had a whole lot of refurbishment (the Arts Centre was in the process of this last time I was there, which was for an open day in June 2018 and I have to say the temporary loos were very swish, so hopefully the 'doings up' are equally so) snd new building over the past few years. Having visited Warwick at various times over the past 40+ years, I have always had a soft spot for the campus. All three DC applied there, but for various reasons decided to firm elsewhere. The Art History people put on loads of online sessions for sixth formers, in which he participated, but he had fallen in love with UEA - the course, university campus (he likes concrete) and city - so although he was suitably grateful, it was probably nigh on impossible that they were going to win him over.

@Piggywaspushed

The Warwick rape thing was - and remains- awful. It has certainly put me off but that doesn't mean its prestige, objectively, seems to have been dented. Had DS applied for history , I might have wanted him to overlook Warwick.

Didn't Durham get some awful press recently for some really vile misogyny among some of its male students? That doesn't seem to have put anyone off applying either...

Ranking universities as a whole is largely pointless. My university most people will have never come across before. The IFS found that female graduates graduate salaries were the third highest behind Oxford, Imperial and LSE. Our graduate employment rate was also 99% in relevant employment the year I graduated.

The course I did is also studied at Cambridge but employers greatly favour my uni over those who went to Cambridge. It’s all so subjective.

@tilder makes an excellent point. Different people and different groups of people (academics, employers, students, parents of students) have different priorities, available information, direct and indirect experiences and prejudices.

Yes, Durham did ,although maybe not quite as scandalous as Warwick.

@zaeema

Newgirls - “Who is it used by?”

People internationally in my experience (rightly or wrongly). For instance, we have relatives in the US, Canada, India and the Middle East and if they were looking at UK unis and comparing to those in the US or elsewhere in terms of “prestige,” this would be their rough guideline.

There are lots of issues and controversies surrounding the QS rankings, so it certainly shouldn't form the basis of an application decision. In very, very broad brush strokes it's worth a glance and it might provide a rough guide as to which universities are highly thought of by people who don't really know what to look for but for more detailed information you'd be much better off looking at subject-specific UK guides and cross-referencing between them.

My first “Uni” experience at 20 was pretty shocking though. I only went through clearing and got into Buckinghamshire. Not the private one. Awful halls, miles from the town and up a massive hill.Most of the boys did nothing but smoke weed as they couldn’t be arsed walking into town. The local pub had a female stripper.
The course was unique and those that lasted have all done well. Very random mix of characters with plenty international students. We also had a someone who became a well known U.K. actress in the halls next to us . Mostly though it was appalling. Still if you came out and made a success of life you knew it was your hard work and effort and definitely not because you had gone somewhere prestigious.