We employ nine performance measures, spanning all phases of the student life cycle, to create a comprehensive league table for 54 subjects. Each Guardian University Guide 2022 provider of a subject is considered a department, and we request them to specify which students are included in each department. Our goal is to highlight how each department can deliver a positive all-round experience to future students, based on the outcomes of past students.
We evaluate the resources and staff contact provided to previous students, assess entry standards, and determine the likelihood of student retention. Additionally, Guardian University Guide 2022 we measure student satisfaction, the propensity to exceed success expectations, and the positive outcomes after course completion. These measures are combined to generate an overall score for each department, ranking them accordingly.
For comparability, our data focuses on full-time first-degree students. For prospective undergraduates uncertain about their field of study but interested in institutional rankings, we average the Guardian scores across all subjects to create an institution-level table.
What’s Changed for 2022?
The ranking structure and Guardian University Guide 2022 have remained relatively consistent since 2008, but significant changes to the data in this year’s guide necessitated some methodological adjustments.
The National Student Survey
Despite the Office for Students’ analysis indicating no significant pandemic impact on 2020 survey results, the 2021 results showed a notable decline in Guardian University Guide 2022 satisfaction levels across almost every provider and question. While these results could be seen as anomalous due to the unique circumstances, we believe that institutions scoring well despite the sector-wide drop in satisfaction displayed resilience beneficial to future cohorts. Thus, we chose to use the aggregated 2020 and 2021 results. Our aggregation rules required 2021 results and at least 23 relevant respondents across both years. We excluded departments with few respondents in 2021 or inconsistent data from 2020, ensuring fair representation.
A major policy shift led to a review of the survey and suspension of the obligation for providers to promote it to final-year students. Guardian University Guide 2022 Coupled with the disruption in results, we reduced the NSS metrics’ weighting from 25% (split 10% for ‘teaching quality’, 10% for ‘assessment and feedback’, and 5% for ‘overall satisfaction’) to 20% (8% for ‘teaching quality’, 8% for ‘assessment and feedback’, and 4% for ‘overall satisfaction’).
Career Prospects
The 2021 edition of the Guardian University Guide 2022 was the first to use the new graduate outcomes survey to represent the career prospects of the 2017/18 cohort. Normally, we would use results from the 2018/19 cohort for the 2022 edition, but delays in survey results and the pandemic’s impact on employment made this data unreliable for gauging departmental preparation for the job market.
Continuation Rates
Introduced in the 2019 edition, continuation rates have proven reliable in indicating how well providers manage the risk of first-year dropouts. With reduced weighting for Guardian University Guide 2022 NSS results, we increased the continuation rate weighting from 10% to 15% for non-medical subjects. For medical subjects, where continuation metrics were displayed but not weighted, a 5% value added score weighting was transferred to the continuation metric.
Standardisation
The continuation metric isn’t perfect for medical subjects, as most students complete their first year, resulting in tight score distributions near 100%. To counter small variations caused by a few student departures, we introduced minimum standard Guardian University Guide 2022 deviations for each metric. For example, a career prospects score for nursing of 90% below the sector mean of 97.8% (with a standard deviation of 1.7%) would now be judged as approximately 1.5 standard deviations below the mean with a minimum standard deviation of 5%.
Adjustments also address disparities between Guardian University Guide 2022 points for qualifications across UK nations. For instance, Scottish Higher/Advanced Highers typically carry a higher tariff, potentially giving an undue advantage. We now observe the proportion of entrants with these qualifications and adjust the average tariff accordingly, using a discount factor to limit disruption and account for pandemic-related unpredictability in tariff scores.
Subject Classifications
While the 54 subjects remain unchanged, we transitioned from JACS codes to HECOS codes for the underlying building blocks.
Performance Metrics
Entry Standards
This metric estimates the aptitude of fellow students, reporting the average grades of students joining the department rather than advertised admission conditions. Average tariffs are calculated from the total tariff points of first-year, first-degree, full-time entrants under 21, excluding those dominated by mature entrants. This metric contributes 15% to a department’s total score, referring to 2019/20 entrants.
Student-Staff Ratios
Student-staff ratios approximate expected staff contact by dividing student volumes by available teaching staff, excluding research-only staff. Smaller Guardian University Guide 2022 departments with sufficient students and staff have a two-year average calculated. This metric contributes 15% to a department’s total score, using 2019/20 data.
Expenditure per Student
We approximate resource levels by dividing total expenditure per subject area by the student volume, excluding academic staff costs. This metric, expressed as points/10, contributes 5% to a department’s total score.
Continuation
This metric captures a department’s success in Guardian University Guide 2022 retaining students beyond the first year, adjusting for entry qualifications. The index score, aggregated over 2-3 years, contributes 15% to non-medical departments’ total score.
Student Satisfaction
Using aggregated responses from the 2020 and 2021 NSS surveys, we assess teaching quality, assessment procedures, and overall satisfaction. Metrics are weighted at 8% for teaching quality, 8% for assessment and feedback, and 4% for overall satisfaction, with results displayed at CAH levels and mapped to HECOS codes for our subjects.
Value Added
We track students’ progress from enrolment to Guardian University Guide 2022, considering entry qualifications to report on their likelihood of achieving good grades. This metric, expressed as points/10, contributes 15% to a department’s total score.
Career Prospects
Using the Guardian University Guide 2022 Outcomes survey, we evaluate positive first steps 15 months post-graduation, focusing on graduate-level occupations and further study. This metric is worth 15% of the total score in non-medical subjects, with results from at least 20 respondents.
Ranking Process
We ensure departments have enough data for ranking, substituting missing metrics with previous year scores or general performance correlations. Guardian University Guide 2022 Standardised scores are weighted and totalled for an overall institutional score, rescaled to 100 for ranking. The institutional table ranks institutions by their subject table performance, considering student numbers and subject table inclusions. Institutions in fewer than eight subject tables are excluded from the main ranking.
Course Directory
We list courses under each department based on the Guardian University Guide 2022, allowing institutions to adjust associations and details. We include non-degree courses, even though they are excluded from scoring and ranking data, with updates scheduled for September.