The final big league of the year was published today – the Good University Guide, which comes from the Sunday Times.
Details of methodology and subject tables are available on the Sunday Times website, behind a paywall, so won’t be discussed here, however this iteration of this guide does use the results of REF2014, and unlike the other major guides published this year uses the NSS data published last month.
Big winners this year are Harper Adams, Bath Spa, Manchester Met while biggest drops are from Arts Bournemouth, Chester, Arts London, Cardiff Met, BCU, Cumbria.
The great news for Staffordshire is that we have risen a further 6 places, which means a rise in all the league tables this year.
Our individual data shows:
| Performance Measure | Score | Rank |
| Teaching Quality | 81.80% | 49= |
| Student Experience | 82.80% | 80= |
| Research Quality | 16.50% | 55 |
| UCAS Entry Points | 274 | 118 |
| Graduate Prospects | 58.40% | 111 |
| Firsts and 2(i)s | 63.20% | 98= |
| Completion Rate | 78.40% | 115 |
| Student-Staff Ratio | 16.8:1 | 59= |
| Services/Facilties Spend | £1,620 | 81 |
Notable results for us then are our ranking in research – although we submitted a relatively small number of academics, the editorial in the paper does comment on our increased size and scope of research, noting our best results were in Sport and Exercise and with psychology scoring high for external impact.
The impact of our teaching quality score is pleasing,and if we can improve this together with the overall student experience score, we will see further improvements in this guide next year.
The new work we are doing this year to enhance student employability together with our Roadmap for Raising Attainment, both of which will be reflected in the new Learning and Teaching Strategy, will lead to further improvements in good degrees and graduate prospects.
As alluded to earlier, the tables are behind a paywall, but parts can be constructed from the press releases from the Sunday Times as below:
| Name | Ranking 2016 | Ranking 2015 | 2015 National student survey Teaching excellence | 2015 National student survey Student experience | Graduate prospects | Completion rate |
| (%) | (%) | (% in professional jobs or graduate-level study) | (%) | |||
| Cambridge | 1 | 1= | 83.8 | 86.3 | 89.3 | 98.4 |
| Oxford | 2 | 1= | 83.1 | 86.8 | 87.1 | 96.3 |
| Imperial College | 3 | 4 | 79.8 | 87.8 | 91.1 | 96.5 |
| St Andrews | 4 | 3 | 83.2 | 86.8 | 83.3 | 95.3 |
| Durham | 5 | 6 | 81.9 | 86.7 | 84.4 | 96.6 |
| Warwick | 6 | 8 | 79.6 | 85 | 79.8 | 96.7 |
| Exeter | 7 | 7 | 82.6 | 87.7 | 79.8 | 95.7 |
| Surrey | 8 | 11 | 86.9 | 90.3 | 78.8 | 92.2 |
| LSE | 9 | 5 | 72.1 | 78.4 | 78.5 | 94.8 |
| University College London | 10 | 9 | 74.2 | 81.3 | 83.1 | 94.6 |
| Lancaster | 11 | 12 | 82.3 | 85.4 | 82.5 | 93.5 |
| Bath | 12 | 10 | 82.7 | 87 | 85.2 | 96.1 |
| Loughborough | 13 | 13 | 84.5 | 89.3 | 83.7 | 93.2 |
| Leeds | 14 | 17 | 83.7 | 88 | 78.4 | 93.5 |
| York | 15 | 16 | 81.7 | 86.6 | 76 | 94.3 |
| Southampton | 16 | 18 | 79.3 | 86.5 | 78.1 | 92.5 |
| Birmingham | 17 | 15 | 80.8 | 84.2 | 86.7 | 94.8 |
| East Anglia | 18 | 14 | 83.2 | 88.8 | 70.3 | 91.9 |
| Sussex | 19 | 25 | 78.6 | 85 | 84.1 | 92.9 |
| Bristol | 20 | 19 | 75.5 | 81.5 | 79.6 | 96.6 |
| Sheffield | 21 | 21 | 81.3 | 87.2 | 75.7 | 94.4 |
| Edinburgh | 22 | 22= | 74.5 | 82.4 | 78.6 | 91.3 |
| Newcastle | 23= | 22= | 82 | 88.4 | 79.1 | 95.1 |
| Kent | 23= | 30 | 81.5 | 85.4 | 76.7 | 90.7 |
| Nottingham | 25 | 22= | 79.5 | 83.9 | 81.3 | 93.2 |
| Glasgow | 26 | 26 | 80 | 86.9 | 79.3 | 88.4 |
| King’s College London | 27 | 29 | 73.9 | 79.7 | 85.7 | 92.8 |
| Leicester | 28= | 20 | 77.5 | 84.4 | 72.1 | 92.5 |
| Manchester | 28= | 28 | 79 | 84.7 | 78.5 | 92.9 |
| Aston | 30 | 34 | 83.3 | 87.9 | 78.8 | 90.9 |
| Reading | 32 | 33 | 80.5 | 85.8 | 70.3 | 92.3 |
| Cardiff | 33 | 27 | 80.7 | 86 | 80.1 | 93.4 |
| Queen Mary | 34 | 37 | 80.5 | 83.3 | 73.3 | 91.2 |
| Essex | 35 | 32 | 83.7 | 88 | 64.1 | 85.6 |
| Royal Holloway | 36 | 34 | 82.6 | 84.1 | 62.7 | 92.3 |
| Dundee | 37 | 45 | 84.4 | 87.1 | 80 | 86 |
| Liverpool | 38= | 36 | 77.9 | 83.4 | 76.1 | 91.3 |
| Heriot-Watt | 38= | 41 | 80.8 | 84.2 | 78.1 | 87.4 |
| Buckingham | 38= | 48 | 88 | 88.4 | 83.4 | 86.3 |
| City | 41= | 46 | 82.7 | 85.6 | 78.9 | 86 |
| Swansea | 41= | 43 | 82.6 | 86.5 | 81.4 | 89.7 |
| Keele | 43 | 40 | 87 | 90.2 | 76.1 | 90.8 |
| Soas | 44 | 31 | 75.2 | 80.8 | 68.3 | 80.7 |
| Aberdeen | 45 | 44 | 77.4 | 83.7 | 76.2 | 84.1 |
| Strathclyde | 46 | 39 | 76.2 | 85.6 | 72 | 87.6 |
| Coventry | 47 | 42 | 87.6 | 89.3 | 74.2 | 85.8 |
| St George’s | 48 | – | 78.7 | 81.6 | 93.4 | 92.7 |
| Harper Adams | 49 | 63 | 82.6 | 89.3 | 73.3 | 90.6 |
| Stirling | 50 | 53 | 78.7 | 82.3 | 73.3 | 85.7 |
| Royal Agricultural | 51 | – | 79.3 | 85.6 | 69.7 | 96.3 |
| Bangor | 52 | 50 | 85.8 | 87.8 | 67.7 | 81.8 |
| De Montfort | 53 | 54 | 82.4 | 84.6 | 76.9 | 86.5 |
| Nottingham Trent | 54 | 52 | 83.6 | 85.8 | 67.6 | 89.6 |
| Oxford Brookes | 55 | 49 | 83.2 | 85.7 | 69.2 | 89.4 |
| Falmouth | 56 | 51 | 83.7 | 83.5 | 74.5 | 85.4 |
| Bath Spa | 58 | 70 | 85.8 | 85.8 | 55.1 | 89.9 |
| Portsmouth | 59 | 57 | 83.4 | 85.9 | 66.9 | 87.6 |
| Brunel | 60 | 47 | 78.2 | 83.8 | 63.4 | 87.7 |
| Norwich Arts | 61 | – | 83.8 | 83.5 | 63.4 | 88.7 |
| Lincoln | 62= | 60 | 81.1 | 84.6 | 70.7 | 87.6 |
| Creative Arts | 62= | 74 | 82.7 | 81.5 | 52 | 85.8 |
| Northumbria | 64= | 66 | 82.9 | 85.1 | 66.3 | 87.6 |
| Winchester | 64= | 61 | 84.2 | 85 | 60.7 | 85.2 |
| Goldsmiths | 66 | 55 | 76.6 | 76.3 | 56 | 82.4 |
| Hull | 67 | 58 | 80 | 83.8 | 66.7 | 86 |
| Edge Hill | 68 | 72 | 83.2 | 83.5 | 63.8 | 86.2 |
| Huddersfield | 69= | 77= | 82.2 | 84 | 74.1 | 83 |
| Robert Gordon | 69= | 64 | 80.6 | 83.5 | 83.1 | 83.4 |
| Chichester | 69= | 65 | 84 | 85.3 | 57.5 | 89.9 |
| Sheffield Hallam | 72 | 62 | 80.9 | 83.9 | 64.7 | 86.9 |
| West of England | 73 | 68 | 80 | 82.5 | 70.8 | 84.9 |
| Liverpool John Moores | 74 | 71 | 81.6 | 85 | 63.3 | 84.2 |
| Bradford | 75 | 76 | 78.8 | 84.4 | 75.2 | 83.8 |
| Hertfordshire | 76 | 79 | 78.6 | 82.8 | 75.3 | 86 |
| Manchester Metropolitan | 77 | 89 | 81 | 82.2 | 63 | 84.4 |
| Roehampton | 78 | 73 | 78 | 79.9 | 60.9 | 81.7 |
| Liverpool Hope | 79= | – | 86.8 | 86.4 | 53.9 | 82.8 |
| Aberystwyth | 79= | 93 | 78.4 | 80.4 | 62.5 | 89.3 |
| Arts Bournemouth | 81 | 59 | 81.4 | 80 | 61.4 | 92.3 |
| Northampton | 82= | 56 | 82.3 | 84.1 | 60.7 | 85 |
| Bournemouth | 82= | 88 | 75.2 | 78.8 | 66.4 | 86 |
| Derby | 84 | 81 | 84.4 | 85.3 | 60 | 83.7 |
| Middlesex | 85= | 75 | 78.7 | 81.8 | 64.9 | 77.8 |
| Plymouth | 85= | 80 | 82.3 | 84.1 | 60.2 | 84.8 |
| Chester | 87 | 67 | 82.7 | 83.7 | 63.6 | 80.5 |
| Gloucestershire | 88 | 83 | 79.8 | 82.6 | 55.7 | 86.3 |
| York St John | 89 | 87 | 82.4 | 83 | 65.3 | 90.4 |
| Brighton | 90 | 82 | 78.6 | 80.9 | 66.9 | 86.9 |
| Leeds Trinity | 91 | 91 | 83.5 | 82.3 | 65.8 | 81.7 |
| Central Lancashire | 92 | 77= | 80.4 | 83.5 | 62.4 | 81.6 |
| Edinburgh Napier | 93 | 97 | 80.2 | 83.7 | 69.1 | 81.2 |
| Glasgow Caledonian | 94 | 84 | 77 | 82.5 | 70.2 | 83.2 |
| Staffordshire | 95 | 101 | 81.8 | 82.8 | 58.4 | 78.4 |
| Queen Margaret, Edinburgh | 96 | 86 | 78.9 | 82.3 | 59.6 | 82.4 |
| Abertay | 97 | 106 | 80 | 83.1 | 65.6 | 75.5 |
| Salford | 98 | 105 | 80.1 | 80.9 | 59.5 | 79.5 |
| Arts London | 99 | 85 | 75.9 | 74.5 | 59.2 | 85.5 |
| St Mary’s, Twickenham | 100= | 100 | 80.5 | 84.5 | 66.7 | 83.7 |
| Worcester | 100= | 107 | 81.4 | 84.5 | 63.9 | 85.8 |
| Teesside | 102 | 94 | 82.9 | 84.3 | 59.8 | 80.8 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan | 103 | 90 | 79.1 | 81.8 | 59.8 | 82.2 |
| Sunderland | 104 | 99 | 82.5 | 84.2 | 62.3 | 81.4 |
| Birmingham City | 105 | 91 | 78 | 79.3 | 64.8 | 84.4 |
| Greenwich | 106 | 98 | 79.2 | 82.4 | 58.2 | 84.7 |
| Canterbury Christ Church | 107 | 96 | 80.7 | 81.9 | 57.8 | 82.3 |
| Anglia Ruskin | 108 | 110 | 82.5 | 83.9 | 65 | 79.3 |
| Buckinghamshire New | 109 | 116 | 81.5 | 81.1 | 57.6 | 82.5 |
| Bedfordshire | 110 | 108 | 80.4 | 82.7 | 58.3 | 80.1 |
| Kingston | 111 | 117 | 76.1 | 79.9 | 60.7 | 82.2 |
| Bishop Grosseteste | 112= | 102 | 80.9 | 80.6 | 69.1 | 90 |
| South Wales | 112= | 114 | 77.5 | 78.3 | 59 | 81.7 |
| Leeds Beckett | 114 | 111 | 78.5 | 82.7 | 58.5 | 78.8 |
| Westminster | 115= | 112 | 72.9 | 80.6 | 55.1 | 80.4 |
| Southampton Solent | 115= | 115 | 79.5 | 82.1 | 54.6 | 76.8 |
| Newman | 115= | 104 | 83.1 | 84.6 | 54.6 | 73.3 |
| West of Scotland | 118 | 118 | 81.8 | 81.8 | 65.7 | 70 |
| Cumbria | 119 | 95 | 76.9 | 77.6 | 64.9 | 85.7 |
| London South Bank | 120 | 122 | 77 | 81.3 | 67.9 | 74.6 |
| West London | 121 | 109 | 76.9 | 77.5 | 60.5 | 73.9 |
| Glynd?r | 122 | 113 | 80.5 | 79.3 | 66.3 | 75.8 |
| Bolton | 123= | 120 | 81.6 | 80.8 | 60.1 | 71.2 |
| St Mark & St John, Plymouth | 123= | 102= | 76.3 | 77.3 | 60.4 | 82.6 |
| London Met | 125 | 123 | 76 | 78.6 | 47.7 | 75.3 |
| Highlands and Islands | 126 | 121 | 78.8 | 76.5 | 56 | 68.6 |
| East London | 127 | 119 | 75 | 78.5 | 45.6 | 67.5 |