As the Times Higher
Education releases its 2014 Reputation Rankings, Ben Jackson advises
prospective students to take league tables with a pinch of salt
BEN JACKSON Monday 10 March 2014
When the Times Higher Education
supplement first published its World Reputation Rankings in 2011, I was
exploring my university options. I attended open days and ordered more than
thirty prospectuses. But my main concern at the time was the reputation of the
universities I was looking at. I wanted to study at a prestigious university,
whatever that’s supposed to mean. So league tables like the World Reputation
Rankings were right up my street. But are reputation rankings, and league
tables more generally, worth our time? As a finalist at King’s College London,
widely considered a prestigious university (King’s comes 43 in the 2014 reputation rankings),
I’m no longer convinced. The things that have done me the most good at King’s –
the student newspaper, particular lecturers and the campus’s location – aren’t
generally reflected in rankings.
Dan Seamarks, a prospective journalism
student, thinks league tables are an outdated form. “I was constantly told that
I must look at league tables and use them when making my final decisions,” he
said. “However, all of my universities’ strengths lay in different places.”
League tables offer different ideas of
what makes a good institution. World rankings have been known to place a
university far lower (or higher) than in national ones. How can the London
School of Economics be placed 68th in the QS World University
Rankings while sitting
third in the Guardian’s domestic table? It’s enough to puzzle any prospective
student.
You have to do your research to find out
what qualities various tables take into account. QS goes so far as to weigh
universities based on the proportion of international students and staff.
However, I doubt sixth form students have the time or will to investigate the
differing criteria used to produce tables while they’re coping with the demands
of A-levels.
Another problem is that one league table
on its own can only tell you the prevailing mood that year. A university can
fluctuate massively from year to year. If you chose Sussex purely for its
position of 11th in the Guardian’s 2012 table, you’d be disappointed when two
years into your course it dropped a staggering 39 places.
Dr Wendy Piatt, the director general of
the Russell Group, a collection of top universities (so in a way its own league
table),warned last week:
“Ranking universities is a process fraught with difficulties so students should
not use league tables alone when picking a degree course.”
I’m inclined to agree. By all means,
look at all the league tables you can get your hands on. But remember, they
won’t take your personality into account. As a King’s student, I can tell you there’s no point going to UCL if you like making friends. More
objectively, you shouldn’t go to sports-mad Loughborough if you hate
competitive sports. I chose my university because when I visited, I just felt
at home. No league table can tell you that sort of thing.