Lucky number 13 :: Wessex Scene Online

Lucky number 13

23rd May 2007
Hannah Slater

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The University of Southampton has been ranked 13th in the 2008 Guardian University Guide - a huge leap of 24 places since last year. For the second year running Electronic and Electrical Engineering has received the top rating in the subject polls.

Other subjects making the top ten in the Guardian tables are Archaeology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Marine Sciences, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Geography and Environmental Studies, Modern Languages, Nursing and Paramedical Studies, and Social Work.

Top 20 ratings have been given to Physics, Philosophy, Medicine and Art and Design.

For the first time, the Guardian tables are based on data from the National Student Survey (NSS) and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The tables cover seven main areas for comparison: teaching quality; feedback; spending per student; student to staff ratio; job prospects; ‘value added’ criteria (comparing students’ degree results with entry qualifications); and entry scores.

The Guardian said it had used data from the NSS to get a sense of what students think of their experience at university. As a result there have been a lot of changes since last year, which means the tables are not strictly comparable with previous years.

Vice Chancellor Professor Bill Wakeham, said: "I am delighted to see that the Guardian ranking reflects the increasing recognition of Southampton’s excellence and further underlines our position as one of the UK’s top universities."

Students around campus have expressed their pleasure at Southampton’s position in the poll. One student told the Wessex Scene: "I think the poll allows us to judge the ability of each university without being solely based on academic results. I was impressed we came ahead of Bristol and Durham."

Southampton’s other Higher Education institution, Southampton Solent University came 113th in the table out of a total of 120.

The top 10 and selected other establishements were as follows:

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. Imperial College
4. St Andrews
5. UCL
6. LSE
7. Edinburgh
8. Warwick
9. Loughborough
10. Bath
11. SOAS
12. Kings College London
13. Southampton
113. Solent*

*This is in no way gloating.