The University of St Andrews is top in the UK for student academic experience, according to the results of the National Student Survey 2021 and 15th in UK rankings according to the QS World University Rankings 2022
The National Student Survey (NSS) named St Andrews the UK’s top ‘mainstream’ university, the thirteenth time in the past 15 years that the Scottish university has been at the top of the student satisfaction rankings.
The QS World University Rankings, which include international factors (see below), placed St Andrews 15th in the UK, with Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and Edinburgh in the top 5 places. Glasgow was ranked 11th. St Andrews was ranked 91st in the world, representing a consistent improvement from 100th position in 2020, and 96th in 2021
In the NSS survey, more than 93% of St Andrews final year students surveyed gave the University top marks for the quality of the learning and teaching experience. St Andrews was the only mainstream multi-faculty institution to achieve above 90% satisfaction rating.
Vice-Principal Education (Proctor) Clare Peddie said: “Today’s results are great news for the Scottish higher education sector, with St Andrews among five institutions in the top ten.
“I am delighted by the positive feedback from our student community. This result reflects our commitment to the very highest standards of learning, teaching and student experience at what has been a particularly difficult time for us all.
“While it may not have been the student experience many hoped for, our academic and professional service staff have worked tirelessly with our student community to deliver the global learning and teaching experience St Andrews is renowned for.”
Lottie Doherty, President of the Students’ Association, said: “This brilliant news is a credit both to the dedication and collaborative approach of the staff at the University, the Students’ Association, and our unique student community who have worked together more than ever to deliver the complete St Andrews experience in difficult circumstances.
“Student satisfaction is incredibly important to us: this past year we have worked to support students learning online around the world.
“Our unique Can Do initiative also provided a Covid-safe student experience to members of our community [to attend and develop educational and extracurricular activities in a safe way], who in many cases were thousands of miles from home for the first time and experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic. The Students’ Association is looking forward to building on the initiative and learning from the past year to continue to provide students with an excellent University experience.”
Individual scores for QS ranking:
62.8 Overall; 46.7 Reputation; 69.7 Citations per Faculty; 64.7 Employer Reputation; 67.6 Faculty Student Ratio
99.1 International Faculty Ratio ; 99.7 International Students Ratio
Picture: students participating in a Can Do event in St Salvators Quad
