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Top five changes to the university rankings 2023

Our university league tables for 2023 have arrived, with a number of interesting changes for this year.

A teaching building at the University of Oxford

New Research data for 2023 

New data from 2021’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) has led to an update in the research measures, which were previously based on REF 2014. Imperial College London retains its lead for Research Quality, but the University of Bristol climbed to fourth place from ninth, and Manchester rises eight places to rank seventh. Meanwhile the University of Birmingham jumps an impressive 19 places to join the top ten for Research Quality. 

Downward trend in some measures…  

Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have affected Graduate Prospects scores. In the main league table, most unis see a drop in Graduate Outcomes compared to last year. Some buck this trend, such as St George’s University of London, and Buckingham – which has a huge rise in this measure. As both unis have medical schools, perhaps this is no surprise. Student Satisfaction scores also take a battering: out of all the unis in the league table, only Imperial College London and Surrey have an increase in points. 

Upward trend in others 

Degree Completion rates improve across the board – in the main table, only 15 unis have lower scores than last year. During the pandemic, many institutions adopted policies to help students continue their studies. However, Student-Staff Ratios also rose, showing that many unis have more students per teaching staff. This could reflect an increased intake of students due to higher exam grades or a reduction of staff to cut costs. Lower Student-Staff Ratios are to be found at Southampton, Surrey, Aberdeen and University of the Arts London, and in institutions from the lower half of the main league table.

Pockets of excellence  

While the focus may be on the overall rankings, unis from lower down the league table can outstrip higher ranked institutions in the subject tables. Staffordshire comes fourth out of 49 for Childhood & Youth Studies, despite placing at 102 in the main league table. City, University of London ranks first in Communication & Media Studies and second in Marketing, doing better than 20 unis ranked above it in the main table. This is true even in highly competitive subjects like Medicine, where Dundee comes eighth, outperforming some unis in the UK’s overall top ten. 

Entry standard calculations  

The UCAS points system is constructed in a way that makes it easier for students in the Scottish education system to accumulate tariff points. A detailed analysis by the Complete University Guide showed that on average, students in the Scottish system accumulated 30–40% more points than students in the English system. To level the playing field, a slight adjustment has been made to the way Scottish qualifications are used in the rankings. It does not reflect any underlying change in the quality of education offered. The published score is the unadjusted average entry score for each institution.

Explore the tables now and find out where universities rank in subject and overall.

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