[size=18pt]REVIEWED: 2015 League Table[/size]

A new table after more clear quantitative and qualitative analysis/surveys by professionals have emerged.

https://www.nairaland.com/141689/rough-guide-best-most-reputable/11#36254113

"Most Prestigious universities in the UK"

First Division
1) Cambridge
2) Oxford
3) LSE
4) Imperial
5) UCL
6) Edinburgh
7) KCL
8.) Bristol
9) Durham
10) Warwick
11) St Andrews
12) Manchester
13) Glasgow
14) Bath
15) Nottingham
16) Exeter
17) York
18) Sheffield
19) Birmingham
20) Leeds
21) Southampton
22) Cardiff
23) Lancaster
24) QMW
25) SOAS

[size=18pt]OLD 2008 League Table[/size]
This is a rough guide for those that are interested in studying in the UK.

I have compiled a League Table based on the reputation of UK universities at undergrad and postgrad levels (not MBA). The keyword here is: League Table. Hence it is not static! There are movements up and down each year just like a football league table.

It, by and large, lists what one can view as the "Top universities in the UK" or "Best universities in the UK" based on prestige for those planning to come to the UK and want to know how a universities reputation stacks up.

I guess some would be wondering what is my criteria for entry into the table.

Well I have used 3 criteria, not completely rigorous but indicative enough to be used as a guide.

The criteria are:

International ratings and reputation:
Consistent high ratings in league tables (national and international)
Historical reputation
Strong reputation of certain departments internationally
Government special funding

Difficulty of entry
Average entry standards
Scientific reputation (especially in research and thought leadership)
Strong alumni list


Success of alumni in industry
Universities visited by top firms for recruitment and self-promotion
People met working in high profile roles at top firms and public sector
Fellow interviewees for top and exclusive jobs
Profiles of employees at top firms' websites


*Please note:

i) That I have only paid attention to specific positions in the Top 5 and Bottom 5 of each table. That is, the Top 5 are the most likely to move to the higher division yoy, and the Bottom 5 are the most likely to move to the lower division yoy. I have not applied much ranking to the middle pack, so it is safe to assume they are almost the same.

ii) I have only listed the top 2 divisions, all other universities (in my opinion) fall in the third division and are very hard to differentiate hence marginal unique selling point of one over the other. That said Oxford Brookes, Portsmouth, Middlesex, LondonMET and likes are much better and better known than Lampeter, Thames Valley, Chichester, Southampton Solent etc.

"Most Prestigious universities in the UK"

First Division
  1) Cambridge
  2) Oxford
  3) LSE
  4) Imperial
  5) UCL
  6) Bristol
  7) Warwick
 8.) Edinburgh
  9) KCL
10) St Andrews
11) Durham
12) York
13) Bath
14) Manchester
15) Nottingham
16) Sheffield
17) Birmingham
18) Southampton
19) Lancaster
20) Newcastle
21) Leeds
22) Loughborough
23) Exeter
24) Glasgow

Second Division
  1) SOAS
  2) Liverpool
  3) Cardiff
  4) Leicester
  5) Strathclyde
  -) East Anglia
  -) Sussex
  -) Hull
  -) Aberdeen
  -) Royal Holloway
  -) Aston
  -) QMW
  -) Essex
  -) Kent
  -) Surrey
  -) City
  -) Brunel
  -) Reading
  -) Queen's Belfast
20) Heriot Watt
21) Bradford
22) Dundee
23) Goldsmith College
24) Swansea


I can understand some people would dispute some entries, that is fine, this is my opinion from personal experience in the UK. And believe me, it has been my hobby for more than 10 years to be following the trend.

If anyone wants to throw a question to me about my selection or omission, please feel free and I would respond. You never know I might even amend if convinced.

God bless u sagamite
i av bn studyg the ratings most recently and your observations are similar to mine.
keeep it up!

How about compiling a league table based specifically on courses Nigerian students apply for

I think it should be based more on the those universities with more affordable fees and how friendly they are to nigerians in relation to hw good they really are in terms of ratings in the world and not on hw difficult it is to enter and how expensive it is for Nigerians.Everyone knws oxford and cambridge are d best but are they as Nigeria-friendly as UCL and the rest?dats wat is important to us,

Sorry guys that I did not respond on time. I did not know where the thread went when the moderators moved it.

Dis Guy:

How about compiling a league table based specifically on courses Nigerian students apply for

Such a table would be redundant and add no value. Try and find your course in the universities in the 2 leagues above.

Otherwise just use the Times League table (http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php) to judge how high up any university that you have highlighted meets your requirement but know at the back of your mind that it is in the lower league.

ctrume:

I think it should be based more on the those universities with more affordable fees and how friendly they are to nigerians in relation to hw good they really are in terms of ratings in the world and not on hw difficult it is to enter and how expensive it is for Nigerians.Everyone knws oxford and cambridge are d best but are they as Nigeria-friendly as UCL and the rest?that is what is important to us,

ctrume, you get what you pay for.

The criteria of affordability and friendliness would not add value. Also what would be my judgement tool for friendliness to rate the universities?

Believe me, a lot of the crap schools would be very friendly.

How difficult it is to enter a university strongly correlates with the strength of the university.

If you make the grade requirements and are good at presenting yourself, you can enter any university.

Oxford and Cambridge (Oxbridge) are more likely than UCL to focus on rigorous logical and structured thinking/arguments when they converse with you. Just know your stuff and be able to stand out rather than be another ordinary model from a mass production factory.

sagamite, i really appreciate ur post. keep up d good work. pls i am proposing distance learning through rdi. its for ma in finance by bradford or msc fiance leicester? pls advise me. i cant afford living and studying in uk. can it qualify for igs work permit?

Sorry, what is igs?

I have tried to apply a bit more rankings to the middle pack in the First Division only, not done so for the Second Division.

This kid has an interesting analysis and insight into top 20 universities for getting the top front office jobs with elite investment banks:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7795578&postcount=1

I agree with him, by and large, but with some slight modifications in regards to "gaps" and some gradings.

My Adjustments are in regards to how the university leverages students for top IB jobs.


01 Oxford, Cambridge
02 LSE

[small gap]

04 Imperial (They do get front office roles but they get more quant roles which are very high paying but regarded as Mid Office, if not categorised so, they would have been joint with 2)

[gap]

05 Warwick
06 UCL

[big gap]

07 KCL
08 Bristol
09 Nottingham
10 Durham (moved up)
(An MSc from CASS after an OK undergrad and you're about on par with unis 07-10)

[small gap]

11 Bath
12 St Andrews
13 Edinburgh
14 York
15 Manchester (moved up)

[huge huge gap]

16 City [undergrad degrees]
17 Birmingham
18 Loughborough (moved down)
19 Aston [business postgrad] (new entry)
20 Exeter (new entry)

@Sag
well done and nice info for prospective students.
i must say though, individual courses have separate league tables but u can never go wrong after having attended any of the top 3.

thank the good lord one of the unis i attended crawled into d list

Yeah, men.

But I think individual league table usually do not count for much as stupid HR girls would not bother to check except it is a very specialist industry (e.g. oil & gas) or Business schools related industry (ala CASS and Aston).

why is Robert Gordon University not on the list

jidobaba:

why is Robert Gordon University not on the list

On which of the 2 lists and in what capacity?

Robert Gordon ain't no reputable uni. It's probably only famous cos of it's location and the churn of oil engineering postgraduates she churns out every year.

herriot watts beats her hands down.

If I was to take a wide guessestimate (i.e. no facts and figures to back this up), then I will expect ratios for front office (only) hires at graduate level to be like:

Ranks: (Universities); Ratios.

01 - 01: (Cam, Oxf) 45%; about 1 in 4 will come from either university or almost half of all intakes when the 2 are combined.

02 - 02: (LSE) 15%; about 1 in 7 will come from LSE.

03 - 03: (Imp) 10%; one in 10 from Imperial college.

05 - 06: (War, UCL) 10%; each university contributes about 1 in 20 of intakes.

07 - 10: (KCL, Bris, Nott, Dur) 10%; each university contributes about 1 in 40 of intakes.

11 - 15: (Bath, St An, Edin, York, Manc) 5%; each university contributes about 1 in a 100 of intakes.

16 - 20: (City, Birm, Lou B, Ast, Exe)1%; about 1 out of 100 can come from any of these universities.

All other 100 or so universities: Less than 1%; You might sometimes find the strangest occurrence of someone from Westminster, University of West England, Surrey etc in the front office.

Foreign university students: about 4%; about 4 in 100 intakes might be from top universities in continental Europe (mostly Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin; Italy, usually Bocconi; and France), and outside continental Europe, mostly Australia or sometimes the US.

front office?

Seems your guessestimate is only for Finance only- investment,insurance etc etc??

Dis Guy:

front office?

Seems your guessestimate is only for Finance only- investment,insurance etc etc??

Yes, mate.

High finance to be more specific i.e. IB and investment Management firms front office roles like Corporate finance, DCM, Trading, Investment manager, M & A, Structured Finance etc.

01 Oxford, Cambridge
02 LSE

[small gap]

04 Imperial (They do get front office roles but they get more quant roles which are very high paying but regarded as Mid Office, if not categorised so, they would have been joint with 2)

[gap]

05 Warwick
06 UCL

[big gap]

07 KCL
08 Bristol
09 Nottingham
10 Durham (moved up)
(An MSc from CASS after an OK undergrad and you're about on par with unis 07-09)

[small gap]

11 Bath
12 St Andrews
13 Edinburgh
14 York
15 Manchester (moved up)

[huge huge gap]

16 City [undergrad degrees]
17 Birmingham
18 Loughborough (moved down)
19 Aston [business postgrad] (new entry)
20 Exeter (new entry)

Quite interesting,

Why these unis? In my opinion:

01 Oxford, Cambridge (arguably both in the best 5 universities in the world, a league of their own in the UK)

02 LSE (Best university for business, finance and commercial subjects in the country, hence the den for Banks)

04 Imperial (Arguably the best uni in the country for mathematical brains along with Oxbridge, hence quantitative ability attractive to banks)

05 Warwick (Top notch uni and strong business department)

06 UCL (Top notch, nationally [top 5 uni] and internationally, strong all round departments, not pushing its weight enough to join its other top 5 colleagues)

07 KCL (Top notch uni nationally and internationally, london based next to IBs and full of posh kids, doing well despite small, almost-non-existent business dept)

08 Bristol (Top notch uni, full of posh kids and strong all round departments)

09 Nottingham (Top uni with students that have proven to be sharp and stand their own anywhere)

10 Durham (Top notch uni, strong all round departments and full of posh kids)

11 Bath (Top uni with strong candidates academically)

12 St Andrews  (Top notch uni, well regarded nationally, full of posh kids but too far out in the wilderness and most elect to remain in Scotland as it is the Oxbridge there)

13 Edinburgh  (Top notch uni nationally and internationally, most elect to remain in Scotland as it is the Oxbridge there)

14 York (Top uni, well regarded nationally, but don't see much of their grads in industry despite repeated high rankings nationally)

15 Manchester (Top uni, well regarded internationally, students do well in pushing above their weight)

16 City (Very strong business school and based in the heart of the city of london where the banks are)

17 Birmingham (Top uni, well regarded nationally, but don't see much of their grads in industry despite strength of uni)

18 Loughborough (Well regarded nationally but just does not have the redbrick flair no matter how high it is on league tables)

19 Aston [business postgrad] (Strong business school, only those with Masters from the business school here get a chance)

20 Exeter (Strong uni with a few posh connected kids)

@Sagamite

U seem to have left Lancaster university out? I heard they are also highly rated with good job placement for their graduates?

NobiGod:

@Sagamite

U seem to have left Lancaster university out? I heard they are also highly rated with good job placement for their graduates?

They are number 18 on my league table, so not left out. It is a reputable top uni.

In regards to getting front office roles in IBs, they are not well known for that. Their reputation for job placements must be outside the finance industry.

@ sagamite.

Been looking at London school of business and finance (for my Msc finance and risk mgt).
Are they not in your rating?
How do u see the school generally? What other schools do u suggest for the course?
How about university of aberdeen rating in  Msc international business and finance?

layzie:

@ sagamite.

Been looking at London school of business and finance (for my Msc finance and risk mgt).
Are they not in your rating?
How do u see the school generally? What other schools do u suggest for the course?
How about university of aberdeen rating in  Msc international business and finance?

London school of business and finance? I have never heard of it. I have never seen any of their grads ANYWHERE.

I can guarantee you without any shred of doubt that if you go there and want to be employed in the UK in any good role, then you are wasting your money, except serving burgers in McDonalds is a good role to you.

If you can get into Aberdeen, then don't hesitate when comparing to London school of business and finance.

In regards to rating, the overall rating of Aberdeen is more relevant than the individual course rating in this case as Aberdeen is not in the Top 15 for business courses.

@poster

u forgot to mention salford uni and man met as well. so re arrange ur post. thanks.

axeman85:

@poster

u forgot to mention salford uni and man met as well. so re arrange your post. thanks.

They are both not anywhere in the league of the universities above. Are you having a laff?

Do you see me laughing or smiling. see question.

axeman85:

Do you see me laughing or smiling. see question.

So you are saying Salford or Manc Met are some of the top unis in the UK?

You might not be having a laff, but I am. 

You want to give your logic on that assertion?

axeman85:

@poster

u forgot to mention salford uni and man met as well. so re arrange your post. thanks.

LOL! Oh, my heart

Sagamite:

Why these unis? In my opinion:

15 Manchester (Top uni, well regarded internationally, students do well in pushing above their weight)

Manchester 15th in the UK? This must be a joke.
This Uni must be among the top 6 in the UK.

~Sauron~:

Manchester 15th in the UK? This must be a joke.
This Uni must be among the top 6 in the UK.

It's a good uni but top 6? C'mon.

ibkaye:

It's a good uni but top 6? C'mon.

Lemme tell you the Universities i rate higher than Manchester Uni:

University of Oxford
Imperial College
University College London
University of Cambridge
University of Edinburgh.

Don't joke with Manchester(They have produced 23 Nobel prize winners)!!!!