Welsh university one of worst in UK – rankings
WALES has one of the worst universities in the UK, according to respected online ranking TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk league tables for 2018, published today.
Wrexham Glyndwr University has slipped three places to 128, making it second from the bottom, ahead of Suffolk by one point.
A university spokesman said it was disappointing but stressed student satisfaction was high.
Cardiff University dropped one place to 36th but remains Wales’ top university in the rankings, while Swansea is Wales’ secondplaced institution once again, climbing one place to 44th.
For the past three years Cardiff has fallen in the guide’s main table, which this year ranks 129 universities with Cambridge coming first, Oxford second, and St Andrews in Scotland third.
Of Wales’ eight universities only two – Cardiff and Swansea – are in the top half of the table.
Aberystwyth is the most significant climber in Wales, moving 19 places to 68th, mostly resulting from impressive improvements in the university’s scores for student satisfaction, graduate prospects, student-staff ratio and academic services spend. Cardiff Metropolitan climbed five places to 67th, while the University of Wales Trinity Saint David rose four places to 119th.
The University of South Wales has fallen 18 places to 117th.
Bangor (65th) and Wrexham Glyndwr (128th) both fell three places.
Mean scores for student satisfaction and facilities spend at universities in Wales are above the UK average.
In separate listings covering 70 subjects Cardiff appears in the top 10 for 10 of the 46 subjects it offers and tops the table in two – occupational therapy and optometry, ophthalmology and orthoptics.
Swansea features in the top 10 for four of the 40 subjects it teaches with a first-place finish in complementary medicine.
Bangor makes the top 10 in five subjects, Aberystwyth in two, and Wrexham Glyndwr and South Wales one each.
Wrexham Glyndwr said it was confident scores.
A spokesman said: “Students at Wrexham Glyndwr University tell us that they value the quality of their experience.
“In the National Student Survey they gave us top marks for personal development and we saw a rise in overall satisfaction to 85%.
“We also have a track record for delivering courses which get people into jobs, as evidenced by our graduate-level employability figure of more than 92%.
“We are always looking to improve the student experience and are currently undertaking a curriculum review to ensure our courses remain up-to-date with the demands of modern industry.
“A series of projects across the Wrexham campus will be rolled out this summer – starting with a £200,000 overhaul of catering facilities – and we are working closely with the Students’ Union.
“We are obviously disappointed with the CUG league table result but are confident that we will improve our position in the future, once such league tables have caught up with the enormous strides we have made in recent times.”
A spokesman for Cardiff said: “It’s always pleasing to see us ranked as the best in Wales and amongst the UK’s very best. However, we are not complacent.” of improving future