The Sir Frederick Mappin Building at Sheffield University. Sheffield takes the third spot. Image Credit: Paolo Margari/Wikipedia
The Times Higher Education Student Experience 2017 results are in and taking the top spot is Harper Adams University, an institution specialising in agricultural and the rural sector which gained university status in 2012.
Last year’s number one, Loughborough University, has slipped down to second place, while the rest of the top five include the University of Sheffield, the University of Leeds and the University of Surrey.
The survey questions more than 15,000 undergraduates who rate their university across measures such as academic experience, university facilities, societal experience, student welfare, accommodation, industry connections, and security.
Falmouth also makes the top 10, and it’s great to see newer, less well-established, specialist institutions alongside big brand names, such as Newcastle, Sheffield and Oxford.
The Royal Veterinary College (another small, specialist institution) in joint 18th place leads universities in London, while most do appallingly. Of the ten lowest-ranked universities, seven are based in London, including the London School of Economics, the University of the Arts, and City University.
However, in similar news, accommodation provider, Student Living by Sodexo, asked thousands of students across the country to rate their university based on the standards of education and nightlife, and how stressed they felt in their degrees, compiling what they called a 'happiness list'. Belfast gained the top spot while Leeds and Birmingham featured in the top 20 of both surveys. However Oxford came last with 22% of their students saying that they were deeply unhappy with studying in the city.
So take these surveys with a pinch of salt, however if you want somewhere that’s got a high student satisfaction, here’s where you should be thinking of applying:
| Ranking | University | Ranking | University |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harper Adams University | 11 | Edge Hill University |
| 2 | Loughborough University | 12 | Bangor University |
| 3 | The University of Sheffield | 13= | University of St Andrews |
| 4 | University of Leeds | 13= | University of Bath |
| 5 | University of Surrey | 15= | University of Chester |
| 6 | Falmouth University | 15= | University of Dundee |
| 7 | The University of Oxford | 15= | The University of East Anglia |
| 8 | Newcastle University | 18= | Royal Veterinary College |
| 9 | The Queen's University of Belfast | 18= | University of Reading |
| 10 | The University of Keele | 20 | University of Birmingham |
To see the full list along with the methodology, please see The Times Higher Education.
