Eight measures of performance are employed to create a league table for 66 subjects, with each subject provider treated as a department. Each department is asked to specify which students belong to it.

The goal is to evaluate how effectively each department can provide a positive overall experience for future students, using the outcomes of past students as a benchmark. This assessment includes quantifying the resources and staff interactions dedicated to students, examining entry standards, and evaluating the support available for students to persist in their studies. Additionally, factors such as student satisfaction, the likelihood of exceeding success expectations, and post-completion outcomes are considered. By consolidating these metrics, an overall score for each department is generated, allowing for ranking.

To ensure comparability, the data focuses on full-time first-degree students. For those prospective undergraduates who have not decided which subject they wish to study, but who still want to know where institutions rank in relation to one another, the Guardian scores have been averaged for each institution across all subjects to generate an institution-level table.

The structure and methodology of the rankings has remained broadly constant since 2008 but data availability has affected this year’s guide.

Details of each metric:

Entry standards
This measure seeks to approximate the aptitude of fellow students with whom a prospective student can expect to study and reports the observed average grades of students joining the department – not the conditions of admission to the course that may be advertised. This metric contributes 15% to the total score of a department (24% for medical subjects) and refers to those who entered the department in 2021/22.

Student-staff ratios
Student-staff ratios seek to approximate the levels of staff contact that a student can expect to receive by dividing the volume of students who are taking modules in a subject by the volume of staff who are available to teach it. Thus a low ratio is treated positively – it indicates that more staff contact could be anticipated. This metric contributes 15% to the total score of a department (24% for medical subjects). It is released at HESA cost centre level, and we map each cost centre to one or more of our subjects.

Expenditure per student
In order to approximate the level of resources that a student could expect to have dedicated to their provision, the ranking looks at the total expenditure in each subject area and divide it by the volume of students taking the subject. This metric is expressed as points/10 and contributes 5% to the total score of a department (10% for medical subjects).

Continuation
Taking a degree-level course is a positive experience for most students but is not suited to everybody and some students struggle and discontinue their studies. Providers can do a lot to support their students – they might promote engagement with studies and with the broader higher education experience or offer dedicated support when students face a obstacle - and this measure captures how successful each department is in achieving this. The ranking looks at the proportion of students who continue their studies beyond the first year and measure the extent to which this exceeds expectations based on entry qualifications. This index score, aggregated across the last 2 or 3 years, contributes 15% to the total score of non-medical departments and 10% to those of the medical subjects. However, it is the percentage score – also averaged over 2 or 3 years - that is displayed.

Student satisfaction
The national student survey asks final year students to respond to questions with varying degrees of positivity, generally with 4 available responses. For the purposes of the University Guide, two key statistics are derived from the survey responses: a satisfaction rate and an average response score. The satisfaction rate for each provider is displayed, and the average response is used with a 10% weighting (16% for medical subjects). The overall satisfaction rate for each provider is displayed, and the average response is used with a 10% weighting.

Value Added
In order to assess the extent to which each department will support its students towards achieving good grades, the ranking uses value added scores to track students from enrolment to graduation. These scores track students from enrollment through to graduation, taking into account the qualifications that students possess at the outset of their studies. This approach allows for an assessment of how much a student exceeds expectations regarding their degree classification. This metric is expressed as points/10 and contributes 15% to the total score of a department but is not used for medical subjects.

Career prospects
Results from the Graduate Outcomes survey for the graduating cohorts of 2020/21 and 2021/22 are utilized to assess the extent to which students have successfully taken positive steps in their careers within 15 months after graduation. This analysis anticipates that similar trends will likely continue for future cohorts. Positive outcomes are defined as those students entering graduate-level occupations, categorized by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) groups 1-3, which include professional, managerial, and technical roles. Additionally, students who pursue further study at a professional or higher education level are also considered to have achieved a positive outcome. This metric is worth 15% of the total score in all the non-medical subjects.