The students of today are the entrepreneurs and small business owners of tomorrow - that's why we think it's so important to provide students with a university guide to help them pick the best university and the best course for them.
There are numerous university league tables but all of them force on what's important to the author - not you.
Data for our rankings is based on independent university league table data collated by UK Government Agencies whose mandate is to gather validated and impartial data on university rankings and courses that they run. The three main agencies whose data we have used are HESA whose website can be found here, Unistats whose website can be found here and The Office For Students whose website can be found here.
Three universities do not appear in the rankings due to not meeting the threshold required for the National Student Survey. For example, Oxford University and Cambridge University are missing due to students boycotting the survey. See the related article here.
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HESA (The Higher Education Statistics Agency) is the UK Government designated data body who collect, assure and disseminate data about Higher Education in the UK.
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Unistats is the official government site that provided detailed information on university and college courses from across the UK. It is owned and partially operated by The Office For Students (see below) as well as The Scottish Funding Council, The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.
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The Office For Students are an independent public body who although not part of central Government, does report to Parliament through the Department for Education (DfE).
The information for each of the criteria above has been collected from these sources as follow:
Salary once graduated is the Median Annual Salary 6 months after graduation and is collected from Unistats's data page.
Employment Rate is the portion of students working 6 months after graduation and is collected from Unistats's data page.
Student Satisfaction is based on overall satisfaction with the course and is collected from Office for Students.
Teaching Quality is based on overall student ratings of staff and their calibre of teaching and includes university rankings on i) Staff being good at explaining things ii) Staff having made the subject interesting iii) The course being intellectually stimulating iv) The course challenging students to achieve their best work and is collected from Office for Students.
Academic Support is based on overall student ratings of staff availability and quality of staff advice and includes league tables on a university course by university course basis on i) Students being able to contact staff when they needed to ii) Students having received sufficient advice and guidance in relation to their course iii) Good advice being available to students when they needed to make study choices and is collected from Office for Students.
Course Organisation is based on overall student ratings of how organized the course is and includes ratings on i) The course being well organised and running smoothly, ii) Timetabling working efficiently iii) Changes in the course or teaching being communicated effectively and is collected from Office for Students.
Resource Availability is based on overall student ratings of resources provided such as IT, library and facilities and includes university rankings on i) IT resources and facilities provided supporting learning well ii) Library resources (e.g. books, online services and learning spaces) supporting learning well iii) The ability to access course-specific resources (e.g. equipment, facilities, software, collections) when required and is collected from Office for Students.
Sense of Community is based on overall student ratings of community and opportunities for collaboration and includes ratings on i) Feeling part of a community of staff and students ii) Having the right opportunities to work with other students as part of their course and is collected from Office for Students.
Student Voice is based on overall student ratings of whether the University took action on their feedback and includes ratings on i) Students had the right opportunities to provide feedback on their course ii) Staff valued students' views and opinions about the course iii) It was clear how students' feedback on the course had been acted on and is collected from Office for Students.
Quality of Student Union is based on overall student ratings of the students’ union ability to effectively represent students’ academic interests and is collected from Office for Students.
Finally, as we all know, selecting a university, course and career are very important decisions that requires thought and patience. Please do not assume that all the data we have collated is without error or is the sole, or the basis on which to make life changing decisions - please visit the Universities you are interested in, talk to friends, teachers and family, speak to past and present students and weigh everything up - important decisions in life shouldn't just be based on university league tables - however interactive they are!