Recognition For University

A Fife university has made it into The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015 for the second year running.

The famous institution has also been shortlised for the UK University of the Year award.

St Andrews has achieved its best ranking in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table this year, with only Oxford and Cambridge finishing above it. Its success makes it the Scottish University of the Year once more, while also earning it a shortlisting for the UK title.

The university, which celebrated its 600th anniversary in 2013, registers by far the best scores north of the border in the National Student Survey (and remains the only Scottish university in the top 20 of our league table). It is very popular in America, which provides nearly a fifth of the first-year students, and 41% of the UK intake comes from independent schools; only Oxford takes more.

Edinburgh remains just outside of the UK top 20 and in second place in Scotland, largely due to continued poor student satisfaction ratings. The university is trying to address undergraduates' concerns with a personal tutor system and peer support but there is a disconnect between its standing in domestic rankings and international rankings (which don’t). Edinburgh received low ratings in this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) for the promptness, usefulness and extent of academic feedback.

Even so, Edinburgh has an international reputation, this week's QS World University rankings placed Edinburgh joint 17th in the world, and generates huge income from overseas students' fees. It has been trying to widen its intake, with a range of bursaries on offer for English, Welsh and Northern Irish students. 

Edinburgh is a member of the Russell Group of leading UK research-led universities.  Almost two-thirds of the work submitted for the most recent Research Assessment Exercise was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent, which was the highest proportion in Scotland.

Robert Gordon University (RGU) is the best university in Scotland for getting its graduates into professional jobs or higher-level study. This year the proportion dips slightly but still remains above the 80% mark. Its success in this area, where the university’s outstanding contacts within the offshore oil and gas industry in Aberdeen pay a dividend, offsets the sharp fall in RGU’s overall ranking in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table where it has dropped 12 places. The creative industries are a growth area and there is a full portfolio of courses in business, design and engineering.

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015 provides students and their parents with an invaluable first reference point on the path to finding a university place. It contains full profiles of all universities and the leading colleges of higher education. The league table is drawn up from criteria including student satisfaction, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios, service and facilities spend, and university dropout rates.