A helpful look into what University League Tables really mean with Apply To Uni http://www.applytouni.com/university-league-tables.aspx

1. University
League Tables
– What To
Consider
The University League Tables 2014 were released
earlier this month and now comes the time where
you have to start making some serious decisions
about the future. Not only will you be considering
what course to take you need to think about
where you want to study and if or how these
decisions will have an impact on future
employment opportunities.

2. What are League Tables?

University League
Tables are produced
every year gauging
certain attributes of
universities and it is
generally regarded
that the higher up
the league table a
university ranks, the
higher it is regarded
in “academic
excellence”.

The Guardian, The
Times, The Sunday
Times and Complete
University Guide all
produce University
League Tables each
calculate their
criteria in a slightly
different way but
they are much the
same as each other.

3. What do they measure?
They measure things like Entry Grades, Staff
Research Scores, Graduate Employment
Prospects, University Spending and Student
Satisfaction Scores. At first this list might seem
intimidating but once you start breaking
them down it gets easier to understand.

4. What does this mean for me?
The most important part of the scores is how
you interpret them rather than instantly
choosing whatever university scores best in
all categories, dig a bit deeper and see
what these scores really mean before you
make any important decisions. For example:

5. Student: Staff Ratio
o
These figures may appear to give a good
indication on what the university is
spending on staffing levels, but it doesn’t
tell you how many hours lecturing you will
be getting.
o
It’s far more advisable to go and visit a
prospective university and do a little
research yourself.

6. Graduate Prospects
o
o
These figures are
calculated six months
after a student
graduates and show
what they are doing
now and what they
are earning.
But these figures aren’t
necessarily an
accurate indication of
true statistics of student
prospects.
o
o
Someone may leave
university to become a
social worker, where
wages may be
higher, but earning
capacity in the future is
capped.
Whereas a law student
will go into a job with a
limited wage bracket
initially but after a few
years will be earning
far more.

7. Entry Grades
o
o
o
These figures can have a major impact on
subject rankings and are obviously an
important part of the application process.
You could argue that what a student
achieves whilst at university is more
important than what they initially came in
with?
Always refer to UCAS tariff points to see if
you have the grades they are looking for.

8. What now?
The best advice I could give would be to
have a think about what you really want
from your university experience. If you are
aiming to have a career in areas that are
structured around high academia
(lawyers, bankers, Drs) then taking the
league tables into consideration is probably
a good idea.

9. However, if you’re thinking about university
experience as a whole, then take these
rankings as one source, not the source of
information when researching a University.
Personal abilities may be more important to
your future career than where you
studied, so don’t sweat out the decision too
much.

10. A good degree will help to shape and
mould you as a person, and these details
are more important to most areas of future
employment rather than where you
achieved your grades.