Student Experience Survey 2018: best UK universities for academic experience

The best universities in the UK for academic experience – as decided by current students – have been revealed

Student life

March 22 2018

Student Experience Survey 2018: best universities for academic experience

View the overall results of the 2018 Student Experience Survey

One of the first things that a prospective student will look at is the academic offerings of the university. After all, a primary aim of most students is to come out of university feeling more educated than when they went in and to achieve their degree.

Participants in the 2018 Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey were asked to provide a rating between “strongly agree” and “strongly disagree” on whether their university has:

High-quality staff / lectures
Helpful / interested staff
Well-structured courses
Good personal relationship with teaching staff
Tuition in small groups
Fair workload

These responses were then combined to provide a table that reveals the top universities for “academic experience”. University of Oxford coming in second.

More from the Student Experience Survey 2018

Student Experience Survey 2018: the safest UK universities
Student Experience Survey 2018: best UK universities for student welfare
Student Experience Survey 2018: best UK universities for accommodation
Student Experience Survey 2018: best UK universities for student social life
Student Experience Survey 2018: best UK universities for industry connections
Student Experience Survey 2018: best UK universities for facilities

The best UK universities for academic experience 2018

Rank	University name	Academic experience score
1	Harper Adams University	86.2
2	University of Oxford	84.9
3	University of St Andrews	84.1
4	University of Cambridge	83.8
5	University of Chichester	83.6
6	Royal Veterinary College	83.5
7	University of Wales Trinity Saint David	82.0
8	University of York	81.4
9	Falmouth University	81.3
10	Bangor University	81.1
11	Newcastle University	80.8
12	Aberystwyth University	80.6
=13	University of Bath	80.5
=13	University of Surrey	80.5
=13	University of Worcester	80.5
=13	Royal Holloway, University of London	80.5
17	University of Derby	80.3
18	Loughborough University	80.2
=19	Edge Hill University	80.1
=19	Durham University	80.1
=19	University of Gloucestershire	80.1
=22	University of Leeds	80.0
=22	University of Dundee	80.0
=24	University of Sheffield	79.8
=24	University of Exeter	79.8
26	York St John University	79.6
27	Keele University	79.5
=28	University of Nottingham	79.3
=28	Teesside University	79.3
=28	Robert Gordon University	79.3
=28	Coventry University	79.3
32	University of Bristol	79.2
33	University of Aberdeen	79.1
=34	University of Lincoln	79.0
=34	University of Manchester	79.0
=34	Norwich University of the Arts	79.0
37	University of Stirling	78.8
=38	Canterbury Christ Church University	78.7
=38	University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)	78.7
=40	Lancaster University	78.6
=40	University of East Anglia (UEA)	78.6
42	University of Cumbria	78.4
=43	University of Birmingham	78.3
=43	University of Chester	78.3
=45	University of Glasgow	77.9
=45	University of Warwick	77.9
=47	Swansea University	77.8
=47	Staffordshire University	77.8
=49	Queen's University Belfast	77.7
=49	University of Winchester	77.7
=51	Birkbeck, University of London	77.6
=51	Cardiff Metropolitan University	77.6
=53	Manchester Metropolitan University	77.5
=53	University of Sussex	77.5
=53	Liverpool John Moores University	77.5
=56	Trent University	77.4
=56	Northumbria University	77.4
=56	University of Strathclyde	77.4
=56	Sheffield Hallam University	77.4
=56	University of Sunderland	77.4
61	University of Southampton	77.2
=62	University of Huddersfield	77.0
=62	University of the West of England	77.0
=64	University of Hull	76.8
=64	University of Edinburgh	76.8
=64	University of Salford	76.8
67	Glasgow Caledonian University	76.7
68	De Montfort University	76.6
=69	Cardiff University	76.5
=69	University of Essex	76.5
=69	King's College London	76.5
=72	Buckinghamshire New University	76.4
=72	Ulster University	76.4
=74	University of Liverpool	76.3
=74	University of Portsmouth	76.3
=74	Anglia Ruskin University	76.3
=77	Heriot-Watt University	76.2
=77	University of East London	76.2
79	UCL	76.1
=80	University of Reading	76.0
=80	St George's, University of London	76.0
=80	University of Kent	76.0
83	Aston University	75.9
=84	Imperial College London	75.7
=84	University of Leicester	75.7
=84	University of Central Lancashire	75.7
=84	University of Brighton	75.7
=84	London Metropolitan University	75.7
89	Bath Spa University	75.5
=90	Plymouth University	75.4
=90	Goldsmiths, University of London	75.4
92	University of South Wales	75.1
93	Birmingham City University	75.0
94	Edinburgh Napier University	74.7
95	University of Northampton	74.6
=96	Queen Mary University of London	74.4
=96	Kingston University	74.4
=96	University of the Arts London	74.4
99	City, University of London	74.2
100	University of Hertfordshire	74.1
101	Bournemouth University	73.8
102	Middlesex University	73.6
=103	Southampton Solent University	73.3
=103	Oxford Brookes University	73.3
105	University of Bradford	73.1
106	University of Greenwich	73.0
107	Leeds Beckett University	72.7
=108	University of West London	72.3
=108	University of Wolverhampton	72.3
=108	University of Bedfordshire	72.3
=111	University of Westminster	72.2
=111	University of the West of Scotland	72.2
113	London School of Economics and Political Science	71.8
114	London South Bank University	71.0
115	University of Roehampton	70.7
116	Brunel University London	69.7