University of Sheffield has been rated 3rd in the Times Higher Education survey for overall experience of life as an undergraduate.
This is the 10th year of the student which has become increasingly popular with students searching for which universities to go to. As well as the guardian and telegraph league tables which are assessed in a completely different way, the student voting system seems to attract people.
The survey was taken from October 2011 to October 2012. Over 12,000 students rated their universities over 21 different areas including accommodation, quality of lectures and social life. The rating was on a scale of 1 to 7 with Sheffield getting 6 or above on every single category.
Sheffield University got an overall rating of 83.9, less than a point below the winners, University of East Anglia. Second was Oxford and joint third was Cambridge.
With such small margins within the top 10, universities had to really be stand out if they wanted any recognition. Many of last year’s top 10 have lost their spot and been replaced with total newcomers such as University of Bath and York St. John University. Sheffield University came 3rd in last year’s survey as well but is delighted to keep the spot.
Vice Chancellor, Sir Keith Burnett said “It’s very pleasing to see the university being rated so highly by the students. We do all we can here to makes their time as enjoyable as possible. We’ve finished 3rd for two years now, who knows what will happen next year?”
As well as coming 3rd in the overall survey they also won best student union. Amy Masson, part of the student’s union team said “Coming ahead of the likes of Cambridge, Loughborough and Dundee is a massive achievement for us. It’s always nice to get such good feedback from students, we put a lot of work into making the union as useful as possible for the students, and hopefully we can continue to provide excellent services and representation for students.
Sheffield Hallam came in at a respectable 43rd, much higher than they placed the year before, but this didn’t take any limelight away from Sheffield University.
Gregory Helmond, a student at Sheffield University who took the survey said “I always knew the uni was good, that’s why I decided to come here in the first place. I actually took a look at last years results before I decided to come here. It doesn’t surprise me that we came third, I can’t do anything but praise the uni, and it’s fantastic. The student’s union deserves it’s award as well, the team is so helpful and does everything it can for us students.”
In times of such rapid change in the higher education section, student satisfaction has become a priority. Students giving good feedback in invaluable to these institutions. With the fees last year rising to almost £9,000 universities are in direct competition with each other.
Higher education is one of the nation’s most valuable assets and has many social, economic and cultural benefits. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has said with the reform universities must be judged on the quality of learning and teaching and the student experience. This is exactly what the survey does and ultimately shows that Sheffield University is doing it right.
The Times Higher Education editor, John Gill explains what the survey is all about, “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.
The THE student experience survey aims to provide a snapshot of which universities are performing well in this area, and while no single institution can ever offer a blueprint for others simply to replicate, it should be possible to learn lessons from those universities that appear to be getting most things right.”
Lauren Maddison from ‘The Student Magazine’ said “both universities in Sheffield are good, but University of Sheffield is fantastic. Every student I’ve spoken to loves it there and hasn’t got a bad thing to say about it and the degrees speak for themselves. lots of the graduates of there have done really well for themselves and it’s all been because of the guidance and teaching they got at the uni.”
Top 10 THE study universities
1. UEA, in Norwich
2. Oxford
3. Sheffield
= Cambridge
5. Loughborough
6. Bath
7. Leeds
8. Dundee
9. York St John
10. Lancaster
Hallam News 