Times Higher Education Survey - UEA top for student experience

University of East Anglia tops class for student experience



The University of East Anglia has been ranked Britain’s best in terms of students’ experience. A survey for Times Higher Education asked more than 12,000 undergraduates to rate their universities according to 21 different measures, from the quality of lectures to social life, clubs, atmosphere, facilities and student accommodation.
Oxford and Cambridge tied for top place in the category for best teaching staff and lectures, followed by St Andrews, the Royal Veterinary College and Sheffield. The Oxbridge universities also tied in another measure for the best teaching in small groups. Oxford topped the category for the most helpful staff, pushing Cambridge into second; but Cambridge beat its ancient rival for the best structured courses.
But the pair were overtaken on other measures and the University of East Anglia, a small campus university in Norwich, scored consistently well to emerge on top overall.
Oxford came second and Cambridge shared the third position with Sheffield University.
The London School of Economics was voted by students to offer the best connections with industry, followed by Bath, Surrey and Imperial College which shared second place.
Sheffield was said to have the best students’ union. Hull and Bangor tied in first place in an ambiguous category chosen by students for the universities allocating the “fairest workload” to undergraduates, followed by Dundee, Chester and Heriot-Watt.
Dundee and Cardiff had the cheapest campus bars and shops, according to students, followed by the universities of East Anglia and Strathclyde.
The survey was carried out for Times Higher Education by a specialist youth market research agency, Youthsight.
Craig Mahoney, chief executive of the Higher Education Academy, said: “Surveys like this are one of the ways that prospective students, parents and sponsors can make informed decisions about where, and what, to study. The range of experiences it covers helps to give a rounded picture of what to expect from different higher education institution.”
John Gill, editor of Times Higher Education, said: “With the government’s higher education reforms ramping up levels of competition in the sector, improving the student experience has never been a greater priority for universities.”