Main sources of unofficial ranking data


League tables and rankings are an increasingly important source of information about the quality of institutions and programmes and also as a means of comparing them. It must be emphasised that these are not official publications, for they are not produced by the universities themselves or by the UK government. They are produced by publications using data that are available from official sources to create the rankings.

The main UK newspapers that publish league tables/rankings are:

  • The Times
  • The Sunday Times
  • The Financial Times
  • The Guardian
  • The Independent


The following periodicals (some not UK based) also provide performance data about and rankings of higher education institutions in the UK:

  • The Times Higher Educational Supplement
  • US News & World Report
  • Economist Intelligence Unit
  • Business Week
  • Wall Street Journal


Finally, some of these league tables and rankings are also published in book form. Others give a more ‘alternative’ take, presenting student’s opinions of their institutions and programmes. Some of the more notable include:

  • The Times Good University Guide
  • The Virgin Alternative Guide to British Universities
  • The Guardian University Guide


What rankings data is available?

All rankings follow a similar model: institutions are assessed against a series of measures/criteria (that are given weightings towards the final score) to generate a unique score (called a z-score by statisticians) for it. The institutions are then ranked according to this final score.

Looking beyond the rankings

While useful, the sources of information about rankings and other assessments of quality in this section can only give you part of the picture about an institution and programme – and what is right for another person might not be right for you

Read more about other factors to consider when choosing a UK postgraduate programme.


That is where the similarity ends; both the measures/criteria and the weightings these are given differ greatly between each publication’s ranking, as follows (each measure/criterion’s weighting or points towards the final result are indicated in brackets, where relevant).

General rankings
Follow the below links to find out how these general rankings are compiled:


Subject-specific rankings
Follow the below links to find out how these subject-specific rankings are compiled:

 

 

 


 

 

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