Student Experience Survey 2018: the results

Find out how your institution fared in the SES rankings

March 22, 2018

Source: Alamy

Get the full results of the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018

Overall score

Rank	University name	Overall score
-	TOTAL	76.0
1	Loughborough University	85.1
2	Harper Adams University	84.9
3	University of Leeds	83.3
4	University of Bath	83.1
5	University of Sheffield	82.7
6	University of Oxford	82.1
7	University of Surrey	81.3
7	Newcastle University	81.3
7	University of Exeter	81.3
10	University of Chichester	81.2
10	University of St Andrews	81.2
12	Royal Veterinary College	81.1
12	Falmouth University	81.1
14	University of Dundee	80.7
15	Lancaster University	80.5
16	University of Nottingham	80.4
17	Edge Hill University	80.3
18	University of Cambridge	80.2
18	University of York	80.2
18	Durham University	80.2
21	Bangor University	80.1
22	University of East Anglia (UEA)	79.9
23	University of Lincoln	79.5
24	University of Reading	79.3
24	Queen's University Belfast	79.3
26	Aberystwyth University	79.2
26	Cardiff University	79.2
26	Nottingham Trent University	79.2
29	Swansea University	79.1
29	University of Southampton	79.1
29	University of Birmingham	79.1
32	Northumbria University	79.0
32	University of Manchester	79.0
34	York St John University	78.8
34	Teesside University	78.8
36	University of Glasgow	78.7
37	Keele University	78.2
38	University of Stirling	78.1
38	University of Liverpool	78.1
40	University of Warwick	78.0
41	University of Strathclyde	77.9
42	University of Worcester	77.7
42	University of Bristol	77.7
44	De Montfort University	77.6
45	University of Chester	77.3
45	Sheffield Hallam University	77.3
45	Manchester Metropolitan University	77.3
48	University of Sussex	77.2
48	University of Hull	77.2
50	Robert Gordon University	76.9
51	Canterbury Christ Church University	76.8
52	University of Essex	76.7
52	University of Edinburgh	76.7
54	University of Derby	76.6
55	Bournemouth University	76.5
56	Royal Holloway, University of London	76.3
56	Coventry University	76.3
58	Heriot-Watt University	76.1
58	Aston University	76.1
60	St George's, University of London	76.0
60	University of Winchester	76.0
60	University of Gloucestershire	76.0
60	King's College London	76.0
64	Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine	75.8
65	University of Huddersfield	75.7
65	Plymouth University	75.7
67	Glasgow Caledonian University	75.6
67	University of Leicester	75.6
69	University of Hertfordshire	75.5
70	University of Aberdeen	75.4
71	University of Portsmouth	75.1
71	University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE)	75.1
73	University of Kent	75.0
74	University of Salford	74.9
75	Staffordshire University	74.7
76	Birkbeck, University of London	74.5
77	Liverpool John Moores University	74.3
77	University College London (UCL)	74.3
79	University of Central Lancashire	74.1
80	University of Sunderland	73.9
81	Southampton Solent University	73.7
81	Bath Spa University	73.7
83	Leeds Beckett University	73.5
84	Queen Mary, University of London	73.1
85	University of Wales Trinity Saint David	73
86	University of Bradford	72.9
87	Buckinghamshire New University	72.8
87	University of Cumbria	72.8
87	University of East London	72.8
90	Cardiff Metropolitan University	72.5
90	Birmingham City University	72.5
92	Brunel University	72.4
93	University of Brighton	72.2
94	Edinburgh Napier University	72.1
94	Oxford Brookes University	72.1
94	University of Ulster	72.1
97	University of South Wales	72
98	Goldsmiths, University of London	71.9
98	Anglia Ruskin University	71.9
100	Kingston University	71.4
101	University of Northampton	71.3
102	University of the Arts London	71.1
103	University of West London	70.9
104	London School of Economics and Political Science	70.6
105	Roehampton University	70.4
106	Norwich University of the Arts	70
106	University of Westminster	70
106	City University London	70
109	London Metropolitan University	69.8
110	Middlesex University	69.7
111	University of Wolverhampton	69.6
112	University of Greenwich	69
113	London South Bank University	68.8
113	University of Bedfordshire	68.8
115	University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)	67.5
116	University of the West of Scotland	66.5

Academic experience

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall ranking
Harper Adams University	1	2
University of Oxford	2	6
University of St Andrews	3	=10
University of Cambridge	4	=18
University of Chichester	5	=10

Security

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall ranking
University of Surrey	1	=7
University of Bath	2	4
University of Chichester	=3	=10
Lancaster University	=3	15
University of St Andrews	5	=10

Student welfare

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall ranking
Harper Adams University	1	2
Loughborough University	2	1
University of Chichester	3	=10
University of St Andrews	4	=10
University of Leeds	5	3

Accommodation

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall ranking
Lancaster University	1	15
Loughborough University	2	1
Harper Adams University	3	2
Edge Hill University	4	17
University of Sheffield	5	5

Societal experience

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall rank
Loughborough University	1	1
University of Leeds	2	3
University of Sheffield	3	5
Newcastle University	4	=7
University of Bath	5	4

Industry connections

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall ranking
Harper Adams University	1	2
Loughborough University	2	1
University of Bath	3	4
Royal Veterinary College	4	=12
London School of Economics and Political Science	5	104

University facilities

University name	Rank by attribute	Overall ranking
Loughborough University	1	1
University of Leeds	2	3
University of Bath	3	4
University of Dundee	4	14
Harper Adams University	5	2

Figuring it out: the methodology behind the results

This year, the annual results are based on the responses of 20,251 undergraduates, who were asked to describe how their university contributed to a positive or negative experience on a seven-point scale, from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. Questions have remained unchanged since 2005 to allow comparisons across years.

Data are collected from October to June from full-time, UK-based undergraduates. There is a one-year time lag between collection and publication.

The survey is linked to YouthSight’s student omnibus surveys and respondents can participate once a year. Only full-time undergraduate members of YouthSight’s 140,000-strong opinion panel community can take part.

For each measure, a mean “agreement score” is created per institution. Each score for the 21 formulated measures is then weighted depending on how strongly it correlates with the 22nd “measure” recommendation.

For each institution, the sum of the weighted mean scores is divided by the sum of the weights to calculate a weighted average mean. This is then indexed to provide an overall score (out of 100).

A selection of composite scores have been created to allow institutions to see how they are performing in different areas of student experience.

As the number of responses per institution broadly reflects institution size, it is not always possible to achieve a large enough sample to provide statistically robust data at all institutions. The compromise is to set a minimum threshold of 50 responses per institution before inclusion. In total, 116 institutions were included, with an average sample size of 175.

As with any survey, there is an “error bar” linked to each institution’s sample size and variance. On average, for the SES, a difference of 3.7 points in the overall score is required to produce a significant difference between institutions. So, at the top and bottom of the rankings, institutions have to move only a few places to see a significant difference, but in the middle, where scores are bunched together, rankings need to shift by 30-40 places to see a significant difference.

For the first time this year, three-year rolling average data have been published, which aggregate results for a period of three consecutive years, starting with the years 2009 to 2011.

This allows for a very large sample, which reduces the impact of sampling errors in any one given year. The next time period adds one year and loses one year – for example, the period 2009-11 is followed by 2010-12, and so on. In this way, we are able to show the long-term trends at the level of individual higher -education institutions and the overall sector.

We have supplied a rolling three-year -verage for the overall scores, for the composite scores and for each individual measure. Only institutions that achieve at least 150 interviews across a three-year rolling period have been included in calculations.

Ashleigh Gillan
Research manager
YouthSight

Related files

Student Experience Survey 2018 full results

Student Experience Survey 2018 full results