Which? University

setmefree2

New Website

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2012/09/top-universities-for-happiest-students-revealed-295224/

Lokolo

Ha it makes me laugh. Just looked at my old uni and peoples reviews of different areas.

"Accomondation: Expensive" .... it is a MAXIMUM of £3708, which is ensuite. You can get non ensuite for £2736!

People just have no idea. Ha.

Interesting though!

The_One_Who

So, it's just another ranking system? Using student satisfaction, which is one of the most untrustworthy sources of data available, along with some other factors?

There's no doubt that Oxford University is an excellent institution, but it's not great for everyone. Nor is it great for every subject choice.

mightymixty

The_One_Who wrote: »

So, it's just another ranking system? Using student satisfaction, which is one of the most untrustworthy sources of data available, along with some other factors?

There's no doubt that Oxford University is an excellent institution, but it's not great for everyone. Nor is it great for every subject choice.

No, it uses several different measures including average salary and employment ratings. It has this for different subject choices, not just for a university if you take a look.

I think it looks really useful - it's so important to make informed choices about your university and course choices.

The_One_Who

mightymixty wrote: »

No, it uses several different measures including average salary and employment ratings. It has this for different subject choices, not just for a university if you take a look.

I think it looks really useful - it's so important to make informed choices about your university and course choices.

Like I said, student satisfaction plus other factors.

Employment isn't necessarily the best factor to judge on. Three/four years is a long time, and the market can change drastically! Also, what types of jobs are these, minimum wage or graduate or something else? It also has those who go on to do postgraduate degrees, are these people doing degrees because they don't want to look for work or for another reason?

Average salary can be another odd one, unless they have qualified the data to take into consideration things like London weighting, location, distance to London and other main cities, historical trends of catchment students, etc.

As for subject, that's one that cannot really be ranked, in my opinion. It will depend on what is being measured and weighted and how (student:lecturer ratio; research output; numbers of firsts awarded; average contact time; etc). More importantly, it will depend on what content the individual is interested in and whether departments research and teach that.

How are they weighting each category? What data are they using specifically and where are they getting it from? I didn't look into their small print (I don't even know if they have any), but from my brief look at the site, it was little more than a ranking system that didn't have much data visible.

silvercar

The top spot for student satisfaction goes to the University of Oxford and two smaller colleges offering degree courses - Ruskin College (also based in Oxford) and Neath Port Talbot College in Wales.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

dizzyrascal

The government insist that the data used to get most of these statistics (on employment and salary) is taken at exactly 6 months after graduation.
Universities have long been telling the government that this "snapshot" is worse than useless but they won't change it.
A year after graduation shows a very different picture but the government want their early data.
Salary information is now compulsory (I think). Not surprisingly, many graduates don't want to say what they earn. Neither would I, it's not any of their business. Our current government think that salary is a good indicator of how well a university has performed!

Shelldean

Lokolo wrote: »

Ha it makes me laugh. Just looked at my old uni and peoples reviews of different areas.

"Accomondation: Expensive" .... it is a MAXIMUM of £3708, which is ensuite. You can get non ensuite for £2736!

People just have no idea. Ha.

Interesting though!

Good job they didn't go to DD uni then as her room was over 5k!!!:eek::eek::eek:

edited to add her room this yr would cost


£5,759.10 but does include food

even a small twin room non ensuite (DD was ensuite) is


£3,400.95

anguk

Shelldean wrote: »

Good job they didn't go to DD uni then as her room was over 5k!!!:eek::eek::eek:

edited to add her room this yr would cost


£5,759.10 but does include food

even a small twin room non ensuite (DD was ensuite) is


£3,400.95

My DD is moving into halls tomorrow, it's costing her £4135 for a self-catered non-ensuite in a 7 bed flat. And her building is one of the older cheaper ones! :eek:

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Cost centre number one's Halls are costing £4.5k for 42 weeks - no en suite and no meals. That was the mid priced one....

yenool

Surely there are enough league tables and review sites out there already?

Most of the useful information on this "which" site is available on Unistats.

I think picking the course that appears most interesting and then judging by the experience at the open day(s) is the only way to tell. Going on league tables, employment stats, reputation or 'prestige' is bound to lead to disappointment. - I learned that lesson the hard way.