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Student Experience Survey 2017: best UK universities for student social life

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

  • Guides
  • Student life
March 23 2017

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View the overall results of the 2017 Student Experience Survey

51Ƶ is not solely about lectures and seminars. A big part of the university experience is determined by the social life a student leads through nights out and joining in extracurricular activities and societies. 

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: 

  • Good social life 
  • Good community atmosphere 
  • Good extracurricular activities / societies 
  • Good environment on campus / around university

The answers to these questions were then combined to give an overall rating of a university’s “societal experience”.  Some institutions, such as the Loughborough 51Ƶ – are heavily investing in their students’ unions to provide students with more to do in between studying. These include time-out workshops for students to practise mindfulness and manage their stress and anxiety and the building of a study hub.

Anna Goldman, a first-year French and Hispanic studies student, says that the city felt like home from the beginning and that the multiple sports opportunities greatly improved her confidence. Here more from her here

See the full results for societal experience below.

Rank 51Ƶ name Societal Experience Composite
1 Loughborough 51Ƶ 88.5
2 51Ƶ of Sheffield 88.3
3 Newcastle 51Ƶ 88.1
4 Harper Adams 51Ƶ 87.9
5 51Ƶ of Leeds 87.9
6 51Ƶ of St Andrews 86.4
7 51Ƶ of Oxford 86.3
8 51Ƶ of Birmingham 86.3
9 51Ƶ of Reading 86.2
9 Durham 51Ƶ 86.2
11 Keele 51Ƶ 86.1
12 51Ƶ of Nottingham 86.1
13 51Ƶ of East Anglia (UEA) 86.0
14 Cardiff 51Ƶ 85.2
15 Falmouth 51Ƶ 84.9
16 51Ƶ of Dundee 84.5
17 51Ƶ of Bath 84.5
18 Lancaster 51Ƶ 84.4
19 51Ƶ of Glasgow 84.2
20 Queen’s 51Ƶ Belfast 84.1
21 51Ƶ of Surrey 84.1
22 51Ƶ of Manchester 83.9
23 51Ƶ of Bristol 83.9
24 Bangor 51Ƶ 83.8
25 51Ƶ of Exeter 83.8
26 Swansea 51Ƶ 83.6
27 51Ƶ of Stirling 83.6
28 51Ƶ of Chester 83.4
29 51Ƶ of York 83.3
30 Aberystwyth 51Ƶ 83.1
31 Trent 51Ƶ 83.0
32 51Ƶ of Liverpool 83.0
33 51Ƶ of Southampton 82.8
34 York St John 51Ƶ 82.6
35 Edge Hill 51Ƶ 82.6
36 51Ƶ of Lincoln 81.6
37 Royal Veterinary College 81.5
38 51Ƶ of Portsmouth 81.5
39 Bournemouth 51Ƶ 81.3
40 51Ƶ of Strathclyde 81.2
41 51Ƶ of Warwick 81.1
42 51Ƶ of Sussex 81.0
43 51Ƶ of Edinburgh 80.7
44 51Ƶ of Cambridge 80.6
45 Northumbria 51Ƶ 80.6
46 51Ƶ of Leicester 80.5
47 51Ƶ of Aberdeen 80.2
48 Heriot-Watt 51Ƶ 80.1
49 St George’s, 51Ƶ of London 79.9
50 Sheffield Hallam 51Ƶ 79.9
51 Robert Gordon 51Ƶ 79.8
52 51Ƶ of Kent 79.7
53 Aston 51Ƶ 79.6
54 Brunel 51Ƶ London 79.3
55 51Ƶ of Winchester 79.0
56 51Ƶ of Worcester 79.0
57 51Ƶ of Hull 78.9
58 51Ƶ of the West of England 78.9
59 Plymouth 51Ƶ 78.6
60 De Montfort 51Ƶ 78.6
61 51Ƶ of Essex 78.2
62 51Ƶ of Central Lancashire 78.2
63 Coventry 51Ƶ 78.1
64 51Ƶ of Gloucestershire 78.0
65 51Ƶ of Derby 77.8
66 Manchester Metropolitan 51Ƶ 77.8
67 Queen Mary 51Ƶ of London 77.7
68 Bath Spa 51Ƶ 77.6
69 Cardiff Metropolitan 51Ƶ 77.4
70 Leeds Beckett 51Ƶ 77.3
71 Soas, 51Ƶ of London 77.3
72 Arts 51Ƶ Bournemouth 77.2
73 Oxford Brookes 51Ƶ 77.1
74 Teesside 51Ƶ 77.1
75 51Ƶ College London (UCL) 76.8
76 Liverpool John Moores 51Ƶ 76.2
77 Liverpool Hope 51Ƶ 76.1
78 Canterbury Christ Church 51Ƶ 75.7
79 51Ƶ of Huddersfield 75.7
80 Ulster 51Ƶ 75.6
81 Southampton Solent 51Ƶ 75.0
82 Royal Holloway, 51Ƶ of London 74.5
83 51Ƶ of Salford 74.4
84 51Ƶ of Brighton 74.0
85 Imperial College London 74.0
86 King’s College London 73.8
87 Glasgow Caledonian 51Ƶ 73.6
88 Goldsmiths, 51Ƶ of London 73.6
89 Edinburgh Napier 51Ƶ 73.2
89 51Ƶ of Hertfordshire 73.2
91 Queen Margaret 51Ƶ, Edinburgh 73.2
92 51Ƶ of Cumbria 72.6
93 Kingston 51Ƶ 72.6
94 Buckinghamshire New 51Ƶ 72.5
95 Newman  51Ƶ 72.5
96 51Ƶ of Bradford 72.4
97 Anglia Ruskin 51Ƶ 72.3
98 51Ƶ of Roehampton 72.1
99 51Ƶ of Northampton 70.3
100 51Ƶ of Greenwich 70.2
101 51Ƶ Campus Suffolk 70.2
102 51Ƶ of Sunderland 70.1
103 Birmingham City 51Ƶ 70.0
104 Middlesex 51Ƶ 69.9
105 51Ƶ of Wolverhampton 69.8
106 51Ƶ of Wales Trinity Saint David 69.1
107 51Ƶ of Bedfordshire 69.0
108 51Ƶ of South Wales 68.5
109 Norwich 51Ƶ of the Arts 68.4
110 Abertay 51Ƶ 67.8
111 Staffordshire 51Ƶ 67.7
112 51Ƶ of Westminster 67.6
113 51Ƶ of East London 67.6
114 51Ƶ of West London 66.1
115 51Ƶ of the West of Scotland 65.5
116 London School of Economics and Political Science 64.2
117 51Ƶ of the Arts London 63.5
118 London South Bank 51Ƶ 62.9
119 51Ƶ for the Creative Arts 62.4
120 London Metropolitan 51Ƶ 62.4
121 City, 51Ƶ of London 61.7
122 The Open 51Ƶ 52.2

Read more:

THE Student Experience Survey 2017 results 

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