University rankings — how to pick a university
While university rankings are a great way for students to explore their possibilities and find their favourites, there are few other factors that might influence your decision! Primary task of university rankings is to inform potential undergraduate applicants about UK universities based on a range of criteria, including entry standards, student satisfaction, staff/student ratio, academic services and facilities expenditure per student, research quality, proportion of Firsts and 2:1s, completion rates and student destinations. Times Higher Education rankings and The Guardian’s universities league table are worth checking if you plan to study in the UK, but we bring you a few other ideas to think about before you send your application.
Quality of courses
University rankings can quite help with this one, but you still may want to do a bit of research on your own. Make sure that all the information on the university’s web page is updated and the university is research focused and up to date in the area you wish to specialise in.
It also might be a good idea to check the staff page to see which professors you will be learning from and to take a look at their portfolio, as interaction with professors will be the core of your learning experience. It might just be the case that you found out your favourite author/scientist is a teaching associate in the university you want to apply to!
Funding opportunities
It is a fact that there are more funding opportunities for graduate students, but there are still few universities that offer financial support to undergraduate students too. It is important to make a financial plan before you start applying for studying in the UK, as there will be more costs than just tuition fee.
That’s why you should explore all the options available and see if you have a chance to apply for a scholarship or a stipend. Some universities offer paid tuition fees, some offer one time bursaries, some paid tuition fees and a full stipend and some none.
As it is an important factor in everyone’s lives, especially when moving abroad, finances and funding opportunities is something that might become your priority when choosing a university.
Safety of the city and student services
Even though it’s a bit hard to think about it in advance, your safety should be your university’s priority — to make sure that the campus is a safe place to live and that their students’ have safe access to all services they may need.
That’s where university rankings can’t help as much — in checking how safe is the community you’re moving into. Google the city you want to move into, take a look at some statistics, check if the university and university accommodation have its own security on campus and/or surveillance system.
You also might want to take a look at what services are available to students, including Careers and Employability services, counselling services, sports facilities and similar.
Social life and free time opportunities
When you’re living on campus, you want to make sure you don’t have to go all the way to town to get something to eat or to have fun. Explore your on-campus options, see if there are some societies you can join, if there are any cafes or pubs near the campus, or any other free time activities you can take part in. Some universities offer virtual tours of the campus, so that might be something to make your search easier.
Another thing that is currently quite important, is the approach the university is taking related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some universities switched completely to online learning, some still practice a blended approach with some teaching done online, and some in person. There are actually many things and factors that are not included in the university rankings, and that’s why you should consult the rankings only as a starting point for finding options. Make sure you do some research on your own before you reach a final decision.
