How we compiled the Good University Guide 2024

There is an annual steering group committee with partners across the academic spectrum to talk through our methodology and the latest data available. We are keen to keep step with changes in the higher education sector, and will consider the introduction of further data sources in the future.

Each institution has been rated out of five green planets or given a fail

This year we have also included the ranking from People and Planet, which has been assessing the ethical and environmental performance of UK universities since 2007. We know this matters more to you, and are pleased to partner with them. Each institution has been rated out of five, or failed.

Data analysis is by UoE Consulting Ltd: Sophie Bradford, Andrew Farquhar, Fiona Kugele, Nicki Horseman.

How it adds up: where the data comes from and how it is used

Data on entry standards, student-staff ratios, completion rates, first-class and 2:1 degrees and graduate prospects were collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) and supplied by JISC. The original sources of data for these measures are returns made by the universities themselves to Hesa. Universities were provided with sets of their own Hesa data, which form the basis of the table, in advance of publication, and were offered the opportunity to check the information.

The information regarding research quality was sourced from the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), a peer review exercise to evaluate the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, undertaken by the UK higher education funding bodies.

In more detail: how we calculated the institutional league table

This is what the statisticians at the universities are keen on, and possibly even the keenest of students too. Here you can see how the source data was used.

In building the university league table, scores for student satisfaction (covering satisfaction with teaching quality and with the wider student experience) and research quality were weighted by 1.5; all other indicators were weighted by 1. The indicators in the academic ranking were combined using a Z-score transformation and the totals were transformed to a scale, with 1,000 as the top score. For entry standards, student-staff ratios, first-class and 2:1 degrees and graduate prospects, the score was adjusted for subject mix.

Student satisfaction
The student satisfaction measure is split into two components that give students’ views of the quality of their courses.

i) Teaching quality: The National Student Survey (NSS) covers eight aspects of a course, with an additional question gauging overall satisfaction. The teaching quality measure reflects the average scores of the teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, and academic support sections. Students answer on a scale from 1 (bottom) to 5 (top) and the score in the table is based on the percentage of positive responses (4 and 5: “mostly agree” and “definitely agree”).

Following consultation with the steering group, The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 used NSS 2022 data, inclusive of overall satisfaction for all UK universities. This was because the publication date of this year’s relaunched NSS less than two weeks before our data deadline, and the fact that the 2023 data was an unknown quantity and might be subject to appeals.

ii) Student experience: The student experience measure is drawn from the average NSS scores in the organisation and management, learning resources, learning community and student voice sections and the additional question on overall satisfaction.

Teaching quality is favoured over student experience and accounts for 67 per cent of the overall score covering student satisfaction, with student experience making up the remaining 33 per cent. For the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where 2022 NSS data was not available, the 2016 scores for teaching quality and student experience were adjusted by the overall percentage point change between 2016 and 2022 among the cohort of universities in this league table. The adjusted scores were used for Z-scoring only, and do not appear in the final table.

As before, The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 used NSS 2022 data, inclusive of overall satisfaction for all UK universities.

Research quality
Overall quality of research based on the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021). The output of REF 2021 gave each institution a profile in the following categories: 4* world-leading; 3* internationally excellent; 2* internationally recognised; 1* nationally recognised and unclassified. The funding bodies have directed more funds to the very best research by applying weightings. For this year’s guide we used the weightings adopted by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Research England, published in 2020. A 4* output was weighted by a factor of 4, and 3* was weighted by a factor of 1. Outputs of 2* and 1* carry zero weight. The score was weighted to account for the number of staff in each unit of assessment. The score is presented as a percentage of the maximum possible score of 3. To achieve the maximum score, all staff would need to be at 4* world-leading level. There are no scores in this category for the University of Buckingham, which as a private university chose not to submit to REF 2021. Missing REF scores receive a z-score based on zero.

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Entry standards
Average mean tariff point scores on entry for first-year, first-degree students under 21 years of age based on A- and AS-levels, and Highers and Advanced Highers, and other equivalent qualifications (for example, the international baccalaureate). Tariff points refer to the score assigned by UCAS to grades from A-levels and equivalent qualifications that are used by universities to determine if their entry requirements have been met. Entrants with zero tariffs were excluded from the calculation. International A-level outcomes are not included in the Hesa-sourced tariff point calculations. Two years of data were used to partially offset the inflation in tariff due to pandemic disruption. The pre-pandemic year 2019-20 was double weighted to balance out the teacher assessed grades given for university entry in 2021-2022.

Graduate prospects
Destinations of full-time first-degree UK-domiciled leavers. The indicator is based on the activity of leavers 15 months after graduation and whether or not they entered high-skilled employment and/or graduate-level further study. The high-skilled employment marker is derived from the new Graduate Outcomes survey, based on 2020-21 graduates, and published in 2023.

Firsts and 2:1s
The number of students who graduated with a first-class or upper second-class degree as a proportion of the total number of graduates with classified degrees sourced from Hesa 2021-22. Enhanced first degrees, such as a MEng gained after a four-year engineering course, were treated as equivalent to a first or 2:1.

Continuation rates
This is the percentage of UK domiciled full-time undergraduate students still in higher education after one year who either continue at the same provider, or transfer to another UK institution as recorded in the year after entry. Two years’ of data were used in the calculation this year to balance out the change in continuation rates due to pandemic disruption. The pre-pandemic year (2018-19) was double weighted to account for (2020-21) scores*.

*Falmouth University has no score due to missing 2020-21 data.

Student-staff ratio
The number of students at each institution (as defined in the Hesa Session HE and FE Populations) as a full-time equivalent (FTE), divided by the number of FTE staff. It is based on academic staff, including teaching-only and teaching and research staff, but excluding research-only staff. For students on industrial placement for a full year, the FTE is adjusted to 20 per cent of the original, ie 0.2 for a full-time student. For students on an industrial placement for part of the year, the FTE is adjusted to 60 per cent of the original, ie 0.6 for a full-time student.

Subject tables

The 70 subject tables were based on four indicators: student satisfaction; research quality; entry standards; and graduate prospects. The methodology for these is as above, with the exception of graduate prospects, which uses the latest two years of data. Graduate prospects scores are published for medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine for information but do not inform the rankings. Education includes a fifth indicator: the most current teaching training assessments by Ofsted. These were combined using a Z-score transformation with equal weighting for the indicators and the totals were transformed to a scale, with 100 for the top score.

Subjects are compiled based on curated groups of the third tier of the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH3) and REF UoAs. Institutions are able to request custom groupings as necessary.

Social inclusion tables

The metrics used in the social inclusion rankings for England and Wales published for the sixth time this year are drawn from datasets published by Hesa and Ucas. A separate Scottish social inclusion ranking is released for the fourth time this year, featuring eight measures of social diversity, and also using Hesa- and Ucas-sourced data, together with a measure from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. These diversity indexes, continue to provide an insight into the composition of the student body and the fairness of the university admissions process.

In building the main social inclusion ranking, all nine measures in England and Wales, and eight for Scotland, were weighted and combined using a Z-score transformation. Institutional totals were transformed to a scale with 1,000 for the top score. Indicators and their sources below are for England and Wales, and Scotland, except where stated.

State school admissions (non-grammar)
State school admissions data used in the Hesa-produced performance indicators on widening participation, published in 2022, are used as the basis for the calculations. The data was reanalysed removing the 164 state grammar schools in England and the selective grammar school sector in Northern Ireland from the calculation to produce a figure that represents admissions to universities from the state sector, net of those schools that are 100 per cent selective.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Ethnic minority students
The proportion of entrants to UK universities in 2020 drawn from black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic minority backgrounds.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Black achievement gap
The percentage point difference between the proportion of firsts and 2:1s attained by white students and students from black backgrounds. A negative score indicates that black students are achieving fewer top-class grades. Where no data is shown, this is because the cohort of black students at a given institution is too small for a reliable calculation to be made.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Low participation areas (England and Wales only)
Calculated from the Polar4 measure, which classifies local areas into five groups, based on the proportion of 18-year-olds who enter higher education. These groups range from Quintile 1 areas with the lowest young participation in HE (the most disadvantaged 20 per cent of areas) up to Quintile 5 areas with the highest rates (the most advantaged 20 per cent of areas). This indicator records the proportion of students admitted to each institution drawn from Quintile 1.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Deprived areas (Scotland only)
Calculated from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). The proportion of students admitted from postcodes classified as SIMD20, the most deprived 20 per cent of neighbourhoods.
Source: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation: Scottish-domiciled full-time first degree entrants — 2021-22 data

Low participation areas dropout gap (England and Wales only)
Calculated from the Tundra (Tracking underrepresentation by area) measure, which classifies local areas into five groups, tracking the proportion of 16-year-olds who enter higher education at 18 or 19. These groups range from Quintile 1 areas with the lowest young participation in HE (the most disadvantaged 20 per cent of areas) up to Quintile 5 areas with the highest rates (the most advantaged 20 per cent of areas). This indicator records the percentage point gap between the continuation rates from year 1 to year 2 of students drawn from Quintile 1 against those drawn from Quintile 2-5. A negative score shows that more students from Quintile 1 are dropping out of their courses compared to those from Quintiles 2-5. Where no data is shown, this is because the cohort of Quintile 1 students at a given institution is too small for a reliable calculation to be made.
Source: Office for Students, access and participation data, 2021-2022 (English universities only)

First-generation students
Proportion of students drawn from households where parents did not attend university.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Disabled students
The proportion of students in receipt of Disability Support Allowance.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Mature students
The proportion of students aged 21 or over on admission to university. The number of “young” entrants (those aged 20 or under) was subtracted from the total number of admissions to calculate the proportion of mature students given places.
Source: Hesa 2021-22

Good University Guide 2024
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