The 20 most popular universities - where students love to study. Open University is top and welcome to Chichester....
As John O’Leary wrote earlier, today sees the results of the latest National Student Survey. Here he tells School Gate more about the 20 universities most popular with students.....
"For once, the results of the National Student Survey have appeared in time to help those who find themselves using the clearing process, which begins a fortnight today. In the past, this useful information has come too late in the summer.
The survey took time to establish itself, but this year’s applications suggest that it is beginning to be taken seriously by those aiming for higher education. Several of the universities with the biggest increases in applications – such as Leicester, Loughborough and Exeter – were in last year’s top ten.
Many of the same names are among this year’s leaders, although Oxford has dropped out because its final-year undergraduates did not respond in sufficient numbers for the university’s results to be published. Once again, the Open University has the most satisfied students among the non-specialist higher education institutions, regaining the position it lost to Buckingham University in 2008.
The very highest scores are at Brooklands College, in Weybridge and Ashford, where the relatively small numbers of students taking foundation degrees were all satisfied with the experience. Close behind is the Medway School of Pharmacy, which would be a single department in another university but is listed separately because it is a joint venture by Kent and Greenwich universities. The same goes for Brighton and Sussex Medical School, where 95 per cent satisfaction represents the third-best score in the survey.
The table below is limited to multi-faculty universities, but the full results are available on the website of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The detailed scores by course will be published on the Unistats website at the end of next month.
As usual, the results show that the universities with the most satisfied students are not necessarily those at the top of the league tables. Although St Andrews is the top performer among those in the Times Good University Guide and Cambridge ties with Leicester for the next best NSS score, most of the others come further down the GUG ranking.
Small certainly appears to be beautiful as far as students are concerned. Even Cambridge, which is the only one (apart from the Open University) among the leading group with more than 15,000 students, is divided into smaller units through its colleges. Glasgow and Sheffield are the only representatives of the big city universities that are so popular with applicants in the NSS top 20, while tiny Chichester, with fewer than 4,000 students, is the top-placed new university.
The National Student Survey, most popular universities
1 Open University 94
2 University of Buckingham 92
3 University of St Andrews 92
4 University of Cambridge 91
5 University of Leicester 91
6 Birkbeck College 90
7 University of Exeter 90
8 University of Glasgow 90
9 Aberystwyth University 90
10 Lancaster University 89
11 Loughborough University 89
12 University of Sheffield 89
13 University of York 89
14 University of Aberdeen 89
15 University of Chichester 88
16 University of Durham 88
17 Keele University 88
18 University of Warwick 88
19 University of Dundee 88
20 University of Stirling 88
Read School Gate:
The most popular universities - where students love to study, 2008
How to go about studying at an American university
Maximise your chances of getting into Cambridge
The easier way to get into study law
The world university rankings and why the UK should be proud
The list's a bit of a joke really isn't it!
Popular in the non-academic sense I suppose. But then Universities are no longer supposed to be for the intelligent academically inclined, so I suppose the list confirms it.
Posted by: Michael | 7 Aug 2009 16:27:38
The presentation of the list is a bit odd. I would have thought that if places got the same mark they would be shown as equally popular. It appears rather that they are listed alphabetically for English Universities then followed alphabetically by those in Scotland and Wales. Seems a bit misleading and unfair.
Posted by: David Jenkins | 8 Aug 2009 11:59:56
"Popular in the non-academic sense I suppose" Michael
Well yes, that is surely important aswell as being good academically. It's one thing to be good for teaching and learning but if it's a dreary concrete building no one is going to feel enthusiastic about learning are they! I was always told that an important part of going to University was the life experience as well as the qualification, it teaches you to be independent and to learn about yourself as well as your subject!
Posted by: Rachel N | 10 Aug 2009 10:15:07
Where is East Anglia? On website reckons it is in top five.
Posted by: Mary | 21 Aug 2009 09:23:08
"Aberystwyth University has enjoyed a record year for student recruitment. Admissions targets have been met and the University is no longer accepting applicants for 2009."
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and popularity trumps quality of education...
Posted by: Flashburns | 25 Aug 2009 00:48:26