Interesting. I will be starting at Oxford in October. Despite the fact that Cambridge currently ranks higer, Oxford still holds a special place in my mind.

For the reputational tables by THE, only academics who had published more than 50 research papers and had worked in universities for more than 16 years were asked to take part in the survey.

I mentioned here https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-141689.32.html#msg5011058 that I do not know how people from the 2 unis mentioned get to roles that normally only Oxbridge students normally get to.

I just found out why. The following 3 are universities extremely posh kids that are not that academically inclined in their youth normally go (probably most were exploring creative flair then, as these are former polys):

- University of the West England
- University of Northumbria
- Oxford Brookes University

These 3 universities have historically had a significantly high number of very posh, privately-educated kids that attend them.

Another Global League table (that I am seeing for the first time), University Rankings by Academic Performance (URAP), by a Turkish informatics institute.

It is obviously not as popular as the other 3 and is very similar to the SJTU rankings, even their first 8 are the same universities. Both are science biased so somewhere like LSE will be prejudiced with the rankings, whilst scientifically strong schools like Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Birmingham and Glasgow get a boost.

Here are the UK Top 10 for 2010 produced in the format:

UK Rank) Name (World Rank)

URAP World University Rankings (totally Scientific Research biased [85% weighting])
1) Oxford (8.)
2) Cambridge (11)
3) Imperial (16)
4) UCL (20)
5) Manchester (39)
6) Edinburgh (48)
7) KCL (79)
8.) Bristol (80)
9) Glasgow (92)
10) Birmingham (101)

LSE (48), Warwick (23), St Andrews (25)


URAP World University Rankings (Nigeria)
1) UI (931)
2) OAU (1388)
3) Unilag (1515)
4) UNN (1525)
5) Uniben (1671)
6) ABU (1798)
7) Unilorin (1865)

Is this really the new rival to Oxford and Cambridge?

Some very impressive thought leaders there on the roster of teachers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/05/new-university-college-humanities-degrees

[size=18pt]New university gathers top academics to teach £18,000-a-year degrees[/size]

[size=14pt]New College of the Humanities promises more direct teaching by likes of AC Grayling and Richard Dawkins[/size]

A new private university in London staffed by some of the world's most famous academics is to offer degrees in the humanities, economics and law from 2012 at a cost of £18,000 a year, double the normal rate.

The Oxbridge-style university college aims to educate a new British elite with compulsory teaching in science literacy, critical thinking, ethics and professional skills on top of degree subjects taught in one-to-one tutorials.

Its first master will be the philosopher AC Grayling, and top teachers from Harvard, Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge will include Richard Dawkins teaching evolutionary biology and science literacy, Niall Ferguson teaching economics and economic history and Steven Pinker teaching philosophy and psychology.

New College of the Humanities, based in Bloomsbury, is being backed by private funding and will aim to make a profit. It will offer some scholarships, with assisted places being granted to one in five of the first 200 students.

Grayling said he was motivated in part by fears that government cuts to university humanities and arts courses could leave "the fabric of society poorer as a result".

"Society needs us to be thoughtful voters, good neighbours, loving parents and responsible citizens," he said. "If we are to discover and inspire the next generation of lawyers, journalists, financiers, politicians, civil servants, writers, artists and teachers, we need to educate to the highest standards and with imagination, breadth and depth."

The college aims to attract candidates with at least three A grades at A-level with the promise of more direct teaching than at traditional universities. The student-teacher ratio will be better than 10 to one and there will be 12 to 13 hours' contact with teachers each week.

Graduates will come away with a degree from the University of London and a separate diploma from the college to reflect the additional course that includes practical professional skills such as financial literacy, teamwork, presentation and strategy.

Other teachers signed up include Sir David Cannadine, a history lecturer at Princeton; Ronald Dworkin QC, a leading constitutional lawyer teaching at University College London and New York University; and Steve Jones, a leading geneticist. Lawrence Krauss, professor of Earth and space exploration and physics at Arizona state university, who has advised Barack Obama on science policy, will teach cosmology and science literacy.

One of the backers is Charles Watson, chairman of the City PR firm Financial Dynamics. He said: "Higher education in the UK must evolve if it is to offer the best quality experience for students and safeguard our future economic and intellectual wealth. New College offers a different model – one that brings additional, private sector funding into higher education in the humanities when it is most needed, and combines scholarships and tuition fees."

A report that shows the top 6 unis that are targeted and give an applicant an advantage with applying to Investment Banks.

http://news.students.efinancialcareers.co.uk/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-29203

[size=18pt]Which university is best for breaking into banking?[/size]

Ask any investment banking graduate recruiter about university preference, and they'll tell you that all applications are considered equally, regardless of subject studied or the educational institution at which the degree was attained.

To an extent this is true, but[b] banks also have an elite group of 'target' universities to which they'll actively sell a career within investment banking[/b]. At undergraduate level in the UK (in no particular order) these are Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics (LSE), UCL, Imperial College London and Warwick. The likes of Kings College London, Bristol, Nottingham, Manchester, Bath and Edinburgh are also well-regarded.

"Graduate recruitment officials will tell you they are unbiased, but the vast majority of front office hires come from target schools," says one former investment banker and hedge fund manager, who now lectures to non-target universities about how to break into banking. "Students outside of these are largely recruited for back office functions."

But do London universities have an edge? One head of graduate recruitment at a bulge bracket bank admits that their proximity to the City means that LSE, UCL and Imperial enjoy far more lectures and presentations, meaning their knowledge of and exposure to the investment banking world is far greater.

One UCL student who is attempting to break into investment banking tells us: "At this point in the year, there can be as many four or five presentations a week (sometimes confirmed at the last minute), which quickly increases your knowledge of the industry and expands your contacts. These events are attended by a broad range of students studying a variety of disciplines, and banks are attracted by this diversity."

But the former investment banker cum careers advisor believes that one university is best for students with aspirations to break into the industry.

"LSE is best almost by a happy accident, and not necessarily just because of the calibre of students," he claims. "The university has close ties to the City and pushes its students towards a career in finance, while Oxbridge colleges are more generalist. There's also the fact that the subjects are more quantitative and the opportunity for networking with traders, sales people and bankers much greater because they're in the same city."

But one LSE student who has secured an investment banking position says that, while the school's prestige and networking opportunities offer an advantage over most universities, it's largely on a par with Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial and Warwick.

"I believe that the recruitment processes that I have experienced so far have been based on merit (results and past working experience) and not because of the school I am attending," he says.

This backs my earlier list. Only Durham appears not to be mentioned:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-141689.0.html#msg4633974

Cardiff and Liverpool should be division 1 really. I personally think they're better than a lot of the division 1 unis and at least on par with 13-24. Exeter, Loughborough and Lancaster are definitely no more reputable.

Both Cardiff and Liverpool receive research grants in the top 20 of all UK unis. Cardiff is constantly in the top 20 for research assessment and graduate prospects, and is in the top 20 universities targeted by the top employers http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/GMReport11.pdf (see page 26), higher than Newcastle and Exeter. Also in 2008, when you compiled the list, 60% of Cardiff's research was assessed as being world-leading. I can understand reasons for the others being in divison 1 and 2, though.

@ op

what do think of cranfield university? i heard they av very good job prospects

InDreams:

Cardiff and Liverpool should be division 1 really. I personally think they're better than a lot of the division 1 unis and at least on par with 13-24. Exeter, Loughborough and Lancaster are definitely no more reputable.

I don't think the 2 come close to Nottingham in terms of prestige. As I clearly stated, it is a "League Table" and I put both at the top of Div 2, which implies they can easily compete with the lower Div 1 universities, but not necessarily better.

In regards to prestige, I would put the likes of the 3 you mentioned (Exeter, Loughborough, Lancaster) above Liverpool and Cardiff. For example, the former 3 have a higher proportion of students with high grades than the latter 2. Exeter and Loughborough have both a higher percentage of students and higher absolute number of students with grades AAB+ than Cardiff and Liverpool. Lancaster has a higher percentage of students with such grades than the Cardiff and Liverpool.

http://exquisitelife.researchresearch.com/exquisite_life/2011/07/the-aab-battlefield-definitive-list-of-how-many-aab-students-there-are-at-english-universities.html

InDreams:

Both Cardiff and Liverpool receive research grants in the top 20 of all UK unis. Cardiff is constantly in the top 20 for research assessment and graduate prospects, and is in the top 20 universities targeted by the top employers http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/GMReport11.pdf (see page 26), higher than Newcastle and Exeter. Also in 2008, when you compiled the list, 60% of Cardiff's research was assessed as being world-leading. I can understand reasons for the others being in divison 1 and 2, though.

Research grant is a function of university size and areas of interest. Cardiff and Liverpool receive higher research grant than LSE does not mean they are better than LSE.

Research assessment plays only a limited role in perception of prestige sometimes, although it is a valid point. Posh kids going to Exeter, and after graduating, giving top jobs through their connections can provide equal or better prestige.

The graduate prospect is a good point but not sufficient to really move me from other points. E.g. LSE has always had better career prospects than Oxford, but I still think the latter is more prestigious.

The High fliers table is not really that strong an evidence of graduate prospects. It counts how many times top employers visits a university. Take this with a pinch of salt. Things to consider:

- They show how employers split their university milkround budgets. They are going to try to spread their visit nationwide with that budget so they don't cause a PR nightmare by showing regional favouritism. They try to visit a university in each geographic region and regional capital (plus Oxbridge of course). This would mean regional leading universities would get to the top of any table showing "most visited universities". Hence the likes of Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool, Belfast, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Warwick (regionally better than Birmingham) will do well in such as they lead in their region.

- Many are companies based in London, they may have their recruitment presentation events in their offices in London and invite the London students through application instead of visiting London university campuses. They also sometimes have a non-campus-based recruitment session in big halls for London-based students, rather than visit universities individually, as this is cheaper for the companies and can spread wider. They would avoid having to visit about 4 or more top universities in London. High Fliers table does not show these or take them into consideration. That is why some Big City universities ride high on those tables than London and small city/town universities (like Durham and Exeter). Companies based outside London can't do this because maybe only one top university is in their city-base (e.g. University of Manchester in Manchester), so they just do the event on the university's campus and have to visit other universities individually.

It is better you look at employment rate and average starting salaries instead to understand employment propects, not High Fliers. Those will show you who is actually being employed and who is being employed into top jobs.

datnigga:

@ op

what do think of cranfield university? i heard they av very good job prospects

For what course?

^^^for their engineering courses

datnigga:

^^^for their engineering courses

I think the job prospects should be decent.

Apart from Cambridge and Imperial, I can't think of much prevalent elitism in Engineering.

After those two universities, I would think there comes the other big universities like Manchester, UCL, Leeds, Southampton, Warwick etc of which I think Cranfield should be peers with in Engineering.

And then a third group of lower universities that offer Engineering courses.

So I would think Cranfield is one of the best options except you can get an offer from Cambridge or Imperial.

^^^nah i got an offer from loughborough, and after doin some research, I found that they are quite good according to their rankings. b4 d end of the wkend, i shud make up my mind on which one i wana go tho

^^^^^
Manufacturing engineering by any chance?
You are better off with cranfield if you're doing a MSc as it's a dedicated postgraduate uni with nuff links to the industry
Loughborough if it's a BEng

^^^ yes boss its manufacturing, aw did u know? lol

did u know any1 dt went dere?

Manufacturing => Cranfield/Lougborough
Petroleum => Imperial/Herriot watts
Oil & Gas => Cranfield/RG
Electrical => Manchester/Southampton

I do know someone in his final year (BEng) on the same course.

What u going for? undergrad or postgrad?

^^^^ postgraduate, engineering of manufacturing systems. got offers from cranfield and lboro. bt i heard cranfield is a village with little/no social life and d auses dere are more expensive dan wt i can afford. dts y i cnt decide. if i av to go cranfield, i'm gona av to borrow some money bt if its gona be worth it den i don't mind taking d sacrifice.

^^^
Cranfield is a lil village in close proximity with Milton Keynes which is a thriving city.
Loughborough might be a better choice though if you're more concerned about night life et al.

not really concernd wit nightlife, jst dnt wana be loney and bored to death. all work and no loneliness makes jack a nerd . dey gave me timetable at cranfield already and its 9-5 monday to friday. that's a lot of hard work and not for the faint hearted. lol

^^^
I think u should have been used to that by now.
Engineering ain't for the faint hearted.
I did that for about 4 years ya know.

I have actually been to cranfield before as a prospective student. Got a scholarship back then to study MSc subsea engineering but went for MSc Info Eng at City uni instead as i wanted to stay back in london cos of work bla bla bla

Nuff night life in bedford & luton though (less than 30 minutes either way from MK).
London is also about an hr away so win win situation

^^^ wt was ur impression of cranfield when u went? i'm guessin u dint get the chance to take proper look into d villlage, dye said about 90% of dere students get job within 6 mnths. i dnt knw if dey jst sayin that to lure ppl dere. i dnt tink dere r nigerians there, i dnt wana be d only naija boy dere b4 they shoot me in the head in that village lol. i am very paranoid wit things like this

tanx for ur responses tho, its appreciated.

[img]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=cranfield&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Cranfield,+Bedford,+Central+Bedfordshire,+United+Kingdom&amp;ll=52.068517,-0.608761&amp;spn=0.201685,0.434647&amp;t=m&amp;z=11&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;output=embed"></iframe>
<small><a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=cranfield&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Cranfield,+Bedford,+Central+Bedfordshire,+United+Kingdom&amp;ll=52.068517,-0.608761&amp;spn=0.201685,0.434647&amp;t=m&amp;z=11&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>[/img]
You will be shocked to find nuff nigerians there.
I last visited the place back in '03 and they had nuff Nigerians at the time

They are bang on point about their relative success in graduates employability chances. They have nuff network with 'em big companies so wouldn't worry about that.

ok tanx for d info, i appreciate

datnigga:

^^^ wt was your impression of cranfield when u went? i'm guessin u dint get the chance to take proper look into d villlage, dye said about 90% of dere students get job within 6 mnths. i dnt knw if dey jst sayin that to lure ppl dere. i dnt tink dere r nigerians there, i dnt wana be d only naija boy dere b4 they shoot me in the head in that village lol. i am very paranoid wit things like this

tanx for your responses tho, its appreciated.

Stop posting extensively in textspeak. It does not speak well of someone that wants to be a postgraduate student.

Stop it! No excuses. No justifications. Just stop it.

Serious people hardly ever do such (extensive textspeak). I am yet to see one serious person that does. Look at jay bee's post, at best it is just the slightest use of any shortening form, that is acceptable. Not like the extensive use as you are using it.

I've never been to Cranfield but I have a friend who studied at Cranfield. I also presently live in Loughborough and Il tell you straight away that Loughborough itself is a small town. The good thing though is that you have access to the 'big' cities like Nottingham and Leicester and so wouldn't miss out on much.

If you still need any more info on Loughborough, please let me know. However, I see jaybee (the man about town) has given enough info already

^^^ r u a student in d uni or u work dere or jst live dere wit ur parents?

went to cranfield 2day to check out d place myself and stuff. d uni is quite nice but aside that, i cudnt find a ause to live in. d closest ause i could find is like 35mins walk away and its in a farm. no neighbours . jst d ause and some farm wit cows which put me off. lectures finish at 5 so imagining myslef jst walkin alone thru d thick bushes back exam is nt sumtin i see myself doin.

goin to lboro tomorrw to check d place out and look for a ause/flat to stay. hopefully, i'l see sumting nice.

what niiiiiiii you are not attending a top engineering school just because it's a bit secluded

Why do you think they are well rated for their engineering courses?

that's the kind of environment you need, so you can enjoy your weekend more, at full blast knowing you will be tuned in all weekdays for your course- less distraction

You will deifinitely find nigerians there, probably proffessors and managers from top companies

^^^ no dts nt d reason. i cudnt find a ause, all d school acc in taken and d off campus acc, i cnt afford

lboro is also a good uni, dey av gud ratings. its nt like am goin sumwhere like bolton or salford

datnigga:

^^^ r u a student in d uni or u work dere or jst live dere wit your parents?

went to cranfield 2day to check out d place myself and stuff. d uni is quite nice but aside that, i cudnt find a ause to live in. d closest ause i could find is like 35mins walk away and its in a farm. no neighbours . jst d ause and some farm wit cows which put me off. lectures finish at 5 so imagining myslef jst walkin alone thru d thick bushes back exam is nt sumtin i see myself doin.

goin to lboro tomorrw to check d place out and look for a ause/flat to stay. hopefully, i'l see sumting nice.

I actually work there now. Been here 3 years though I may be moving away soon as I'm over 90% done with my research. If you were there today, I'm sure we 'jammed' on the Sprint bus this afternoon , kidding.

Cranfield is a good uni from what I've hard. Loughborough is equally good and may not be as high on the ratings table as Cranfield, in terms of student experience, we remain no 1 in the UK

Now . . . you guyz hav been saying almost anything is possible.

all i hav is an HND (upper credit) and about 2yrs post NYSC work experience; what's my chance of doing my Masters in the UK, without havin to 1st do a PGD?

if it's gonna be possible and i'm to do a course in a specialist area like oil and gas, what's my chance of getting a well paying job quickly in the UK with it? My course at HND level was a vast one in sciences, and way back i dreamt of a Masters degree in Food Technology or in something related to Analytical Chemistry. But now i consider huge earnings ahead of flair; so is this idea of narrowing down to oil and gas really good?

quick response pls, cos i'm about to make my final decision. Thanks a bunch.

Alright gentlemen, what are your views on Exeter Uni? I often get mixed reviews about this one.

Exeter, not particularly a brain-box university but it has a large amount of posh kids for some reason hence some of their students are well connected so they can get some top jobs, that is why I put it above Glasgow which is an academically more rigourous uni.

I think it is the school posh kids that cannot get into Oxbridge, LSE, Bristol, KCL, St Andrews and Durham go and congregate. And it normally does well in the national ratings by hitting the top 20 sometimes. So I will say it is a BBB uni and a "Quite Good" uni.

Sagamite, you are a great man but I don't agree with your comments about exeter.
I am a first year student and It is by no means a bbb uni. I barely got in with aab, also
it has consistently been in or around the top 10 for the last few years? Please explain how you arrived at your opinions?
I rejected Manchester and nottingham to go here, however I would agree that it is not as good as four of the unis you stated above, but kcl and especially bristol are debateable.

babski56:

Alright gentlemen, what are your views on Exeter Uni? I often get mixed reviews about this one.

Exeter, not particularly a brain-box university but it has a large amount of posh kids for some reason hence some of their students are well connected so they can get some top jobs, that is why I put it above Glasgow which is an academically more rigourous uni.

I think it is the school posh kids that cannot get into Oxbridge, LSE, Bristol, KCL, St Andrews and Durham go and congregate. And it normally does well in the national ratings by hitting the top 20 sometimes. So I will say it is a BBB uni and a "Quite Good" uni.

Sagamite, you are a great man but I don't agree with your comments about exeter.
I am a first year student and It is by no means a bbb uni. I barely got in with aab, also
it has consistently been in or around the top 10 for the last few years? Please explain how you arrived at your opinions?
I rejected Manchester and nottingham to go here, however I would agree that it is not as good as four of the unis you stated above, but  kcl and especially bristol are debateable.

you rejected manchester to go to exeter?

i rejected beyonce to go for mercy johnson. i hope you don't regret your actions when you start looking for jobs.
manchester? rejected? it's either you are lying or you are just dumb!