Lancaster has recently been ranked in ninth position in the ‘Complete University Guide 2013’ out of all UK universities.
The University is alongside other prestigious universities in the top ten, including Cambridge in top position and others including Durham, Oxford and Warwick.
Present and past students of Lancaster University have reacted positively about its recent high rankings.
Sarah Main, a third year student at Lancaster said: “It does make me feel more proud of achieving a high grade knowing that I go to a high ranking university. I’m also very proud that my subject was top of the list last year and 3rd to Oxford and Cambridge this year.”
This position has been gained through an investigation based on nine different measures: student satisfaction, research assessment, entry standards, student to staff ratio, spending on academic services, spending on student facilities, good honours degrees achieved, graduate prospects and completion.
Ollie Gaskell, another third year student commented that he loves “Lancaster, and it being in the top 10 is great for future job prospects as well as, hopefully, future investment in academic facilities at the University.”
Lancaster’s high rankings have been continuous over the past few years. In the Guardian’s university guide, they ranked Lancaster seventh out of 120 universities in the UK, and in the most recent UK Government’s Assessment of Research in 2008, more than 90% of the research at Lancaster was seen as world leading or internationally significant.
A Lancaster Graduate Robert McHugh told SCAN that Lancaster was a big part in helping him start his career. “I feel that Lancaster’s reputation was a big part in improving my job prospects” he added.
A further high ranking for Lancaster is the achievement of the University’s accommodation being ranked second in the UK in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey.
More than 14,000 undergraduates took part in the survey; however, the opinions amongst Lancaster students differ.
Main believes that “the feeling of safety, and college spirit within the way Lancaster’s accommodation works is much better” going on to say that “you don’t get that at other universities [she’s] been to.”
On the other hand, Gaskell thinks that Lancaster’s “accommodation is good but maybe not second in the country. It’s definitely not second in the country for value for money!”
Despite mixed comments, future student Michal Sutton feels very positive about Lancaster’s recent ratings.
“I was extremely impressed with the accommodation at Lancaster on the open days” he commented, “and now that it has been ranked as some of the best in the UK, it has confirmed my decision to make Lancaster my first choice.”
