Northumbria receives highest ever ranking for outstanding student experience

Northumbria has been rated as the UK’s 21st best university for providing an outstanding student experience in this year’s Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey, which was published today (Thursday 15 May).

The rating is Northumbria’s highest ever in the annual survey of student opinion, which is now in its ninth year, and builds on a number of other recent successes which indicate Northumbria’s growing national and international reputation.

This week Northumbria became the most improved university in the North East of England in the Complete University Guide, reflecting its position as one of the top 10 universities in the UK for the number of graduates entering professional employment.

It joined the top 5% of business schools worldwide by gaining AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) Accreditation, an international hallmark of excellence, for its business education and also won a national title for having the best city life for students in the UK.

These accolades all follow the award of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education – the highest form of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational institution – for the University’s work in Law.

More than 14,000 students from 111 UK universities took part in the Times Higher Education survey and were asked to rate how their universities performed in 21 different areas. These included the quality of the lecturers and facilities, library provision, accommodation, the on-campus environment and community atmosphere and the welfare support made available to students.

Northumbria’s Library facilities were ranked joint third best in the country and its sports facilities were rated joint fifth. This further cements Team Northumbria’s outstanding performance in this year’s BUCS National League Table in which the University reached eighth position – the first time it has ever finished in the BUCS top ten.

Northumbria was also achieved a top five ranking for providing students with a good social life, just a day after winning the national WhatUni Student Choice Award for having the best City Life of any university in the UK.

Other areas in which scored highly included the quality of its staff and lecturers, the provision of well-structured courses with a fair workload, centralised and convenient facilities, and good support for personal welfare and security.

The University has continuously improved its position in the Student Experience Survey over the last four years, climbing from 45th place in 2010 to 21st place in 2014.

Professor Andrew Wathey, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, commented: “Northumbria’s rating reflects the improving experience of its students and the practical result of our work to put students at the heart of the university, as well as the academic and other investments the university has made.

“The successes achieved this week in national league tables and awards are further recognition that the University is achieving its ambition to be a research-rich, business-focussed, professional university with a global reputation for academic excellence.