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Student Experience Survey 2017: best UK universities for academic experience

The best universities in the UK for academic experience – as decided by current students – have been revealed

  • Guides
March 23 2017
Lecture, boring, lecturer, students

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View the overall results of the 2017 Student Experience Survey

One of the first things that a prospective student will consider is the academic experience of a university. After all, a primary aim of most students is to come out of university feeling more educated than when they went in.

Participants in the 2017 Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey were asked to provide a rating between “strongly agree” and “strongly disagree” on whether their university has: 

  • High-quality staff / lectures
  • Helpful / interested staff
  • Well-structured courses
  • Good personal relationship with teaching staff
  • Tuition in small groups
  • Fair workload

These responses were then combined to give a table that reveals the top universities for “academic experience”. 51Ƶ of Oxford coming in second. 

Alannah Burns, a second-year philosophy and German student at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, says that although the workload at the university can be daunting at first, it becomes manageable over time as students adjust. She says that tutorials with lecturers help her to understand her work better and that the support from the university is excellent. You can read more of her thoughts here.

See the full academic experience results table below.

Rank 51Ƶ name Academic experience composite
1 Harper Adams 51Ƶ 85.9
2 51Ƶ of Oxford 84.9
3 51Ƶ of St Andrews 83.1
4 Keele 51Ƶ 83.0
5 Bangor 51Ƶ 82.8
6 51Ƶ of Cambridge 82.5
7 Falmouth 51Ƶ 82.0
8 Royal Veterinary College 81.9
9 51Ƶ of Chester 81.9
10 Norwich 51Ƶ of the Arts 81.7
11 Robert Gordon 51Ƶ 81.4
12 Newman  51Ƶ 81.0
13 York St John 51Ƶ 80.7
14 51Ƶ Campus Suffolk 80.6
15 51Ƶ of Derby 80.5
16 51Ƶ of York 80.5
17 51Ƶ of Surrey 80.4
18 Soas, 51Ƶ of London 80.4
19 Queen’s 51Ƶ Belfast 80.3
20 Aberystwyth 51Ƶ 80.2
21 51Ƶ of Wales Trinity Saint David 80.2
22 Liverpool Hope 51Ƶ 79.8
23 Coventry 51Ƶ 79.8
24 51Ƶ of Gloucestershire 79.8
25 Loughborough 51Ƶ 79.6
26 51Ƶ of East Anglia (UEA) 79.6
27 51Ƶ of Worcester 79.5
28 Newcastle 51Ƶ 79.4
29 Edge Hill 51Ƶ 79.4
30 Ulster 51Ƶ 79.3
31 Swansea 51Ƶ 79.3
32 Heriot-Watt 51Ƶ 79.3
33 51Ƶ of Stirling 79.2
34 51Ƶ of Birmingham 79.0
35 St George’s, 51Ƶ of London 78.9
36 51Ƶ of Portsmouth 78.8
37 Durham 51Ƶ 78.8
38 51Ƶ of Aberdeen 78.7
39 51Ƶ of Sheffield 78.7
40 51Ƶ of Cumbria 78.6
41 51Ƶ of Manchester 78.6
42 51Ƶ of Salford 78.6
43 Lancaster 51Ƶ 78.6
44 51Ƶ of Bristol 78.5
45 Queen Margaret 51Ƶ, Edinburgh 78.5
46 51Ƶ of Leicester 78.2
47 51Ƶ of Dundee 77.8
48 51Ƶ of Winchester 77.8
49 51Ƶ of Nottingham 77.8
50 Trent 51Ƶ 77.6
51 51Ƶ of Leeds 77.5
52 51Ƶ of Bath 77.3
53 51Ƶ of Glasgow 77.1
54 51Ƶ of Exeter 76.8
55 51Ƶ of Warwick 76.7
56 Manchester Metropolitan 51Ƶ 76.6
57 Cardiff Metropolitan 51Ƶ 76.6
58 Cardiff 51Ƶ 76.5
59 51Ƶ of Reading 76.5
60 Oxford Brookes 51Ƶ 76.5
61 Royal Holloway, 51Ƶ of London 76.5
62 Goldsmiths, 51Ƶ of London 76.4
63 Teesside 51Ƶ 76.2
64 51Ƶ of Wolverhampton 76.1
65 51Ƶ of Central Lancashire 76.1
66 51Ƶ of Huddersfield 75.9
67 Queen Mary 51Ƶ of London 75.8
68 Liverpool John Moores 51Ƶ 75.8
69 Imperial College London 75.8
70 51Ƶ of Strathclyde 75.7
71 51Ƶ of Sussex 75.7
72 51Ƶ of Lincoln 75.6
73 Edinburgh Napier 51Ƶ 75.6
74 51Ƶ of Hull 75.5
75 King’s College London 75.3
76 Sheffield Hallam 51Ƶ 75.3
77 Northumbria 51Ƶ 75.3
78 51Ƶ of Southampton 75.2
79 51Ƶ of Liverpool 75.2
80 51Ƶ of the West of Scotland 75.2
81 51Ƶ of Greenwich 75.1
82 Anglia Ruskin 51Ƶ 75.1
83 Aston 51Ƶ 75.1
84 De Montfort 51Ƶ 75.0
85 51Ƶ of Kent 75.0
86 Bucks New 51Ƶ 74.9
87 51Ƶ of Bedfordshire 74.8
88 51Ƶ of the West of England 74.8
89 51Ƶ of Edinburgh 74.7
90 Arts 51Ƶ Bournemouth 74.4
91 Canterbury Christ Church 51Ƶ 74.4
92 51Ƶ of Essex 74.4
93 Plymouth 51Ƶ 74.3
94 51Ƶ of East London 74.1
95 51Ƶ for the Creative Arts 74.0
96 Leeds Beckett 51Ƶ 73.9
97 Bath Spa 51Ƶ 73.9
98 Staffordshire 51Ƶ 73.8
99 Southampton Solent 51Ƶ 73.6
100 Bournemouth 51Ƶ 73.6
101 51Ƶ College London (UCL) 73.5
102 51Ƶ of Bradford 73.5
103 51Ƶ of South Wales 73.4
104 Middlesex 51Ƶ 72.8
105 51Ƶ of Roehampton 72.6
106 Abertay 51Ƶ 72.5
107 51Ƶ of Brighton 72.5
108 Brunel 51Ƶ London 72.2
109 City, 51Ƶ of London 72.1
110 Glasgow Caledonian 51Ƶ 71.8
111 51Ƶ of Sunderland 71.8
112 51Ƶ of West London 71.7
113 Birmingham City 51Ƶ 71.3
114 51Ƶ of the Arts London 71.3
115 The Open 51Ƶ 71.2
116 51Ƶ of Northampton 71.1
117 51Ƶ of Hertfordshire 70.8
118 51Ƶ of Westminster 70.5
119 Kingston 51Ƶ 70.3
120 London Metropolitan 51Ƶ 69.6
121 London South Bank 51Ƶ 66.8
122 London School of Economics and Political Science 65.3

Read more:

THE Student Experience Survey 2017 overall results
Student Experience Survey 2017: hear from students at the top institutions 

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