Northern universities top for nightlife
The Which? University student survey finds that universities in northern and Scottish cities are rated top by students for having a diverse local nightlife.
Which? University reveals the top-rated universities for sports, creative and political scenes, variety of student union activities and diversity of local nightlife, using the views of more than 16,000 undergraduate students from this year’s and last year’s survey.
We found that eight of the top-rated universities for diverse local nightlife are in northern and Scottish cities. Many of the universities rated top for political scene are in London or the south-east and are dominated by Russell Group universities.
University College London, University of Birmingham, University of Glasgow and University of Leeds scored well across the board for nearly all categories.
Launched a year ago today, Which? University is a free website designed to help students make more informed higher education decisions.
This year’s survey of 8,053 undergraduate students also found high satisfaction with choice of university (85%) and choice of course (85%). However, a quarter of students (26%) wish they’d done more research into their choice of course and university.
While only one in ten students regret their choice of university (10%) and their choice of course (11%), they are more likely to say they regret their course after their first year (13% of second to fourth year students compared to 9% of first year students).
Jenni Allen, Head of Which? University, said:
“The academic and extra-curricular experience at university varies widely. With increased tuition fees, it’s never been more important for prospective students to weigh up all the options and make sure they make the right choice for them.”
Which? University features information on more than 30,000 courses and 353 universities and colleges to search and compare. It brings together facts and statistics from official sources including UCAS, the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the National Student Survey and Destination of Leavers of Higher Education survey. This is combined with real-life insight from students and the unbiased, expert analysis you’d expect from Which?. Working with the National Union of Students (NUS), the website also aims to capture what life at university is really like – written for students, by students.
Notes to editors:
1. Which? University was launched a year ago today and since then has had nearly 1.3 million visits, and reaches thousands of students, teachers and parents each month. It now features 33,760 courses to compare, 353 universities and colleges to explore, and 223 expert advice articles to help students get their first choice. It also has 62,894 real-life views from current university students telling the real story about 156 universities.
2. YouthSight, on behalf of Which?, interviewed 8,053 undergraduate students at UK universities, online between 8th July and 8th August 2013. For all extra-curricular university ratings (apart from variety of student union activities), we combined this year’s data with last year’s data. Last year YouthSight, on behalf of Which?, interviewed 9,604 undergraduate students at UK universities, online between 12th June – 6th July.
Top universities for sports, creativity, political scene, varied student union activities and diverse local nightlife:
Please note that the following lists are not a ranking in order but a list of universities that are in the highest and lowest scoring groups. The scores of the universities within these groups are not necessarily significantly different.
Top sporty universities, as rated by students:
We asked if sport is a large part of university life, with a wide range of organised sports teams, clubs and facilities open to all levels.
Loughborough University
St Mary’s University College, Twickenham
University of Bath
University of Stirling
Brunel University
Durham University
Leeds Metropolitan University
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Harper Adams University
University of Birmingham
University of Chichester
Northumbria University
Least sporty universities, as rated by students:
University for the Creative Arts
Arts University Bournemouth
University of the Arts London
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
University of West London
University Campus Suffolk
Goldsmiths, University of London
Top creative universities, as rated by students:
We asked if music, theatre, dance, choirs, visual arts etc. are a large part of university life, with lots of arts societies, events and facilities open to all students.
Arts University Bournemouth
Goldsmiths, University of London
Falmouth University
University of the Arts London
University for the Creative Arts
Bath Spa University
University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
De Montfort University
University of St Andrews
Southampton Solent University
Buckinghamshire New University
University of Huddersfield
University of Dundee
Least creative universities, as rated by students:
Royal Veterinary College, University of London
Leeds Trinity University
Harper Adams University
London South Bank University
City University
London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London
Aston University
University of Bath
Top political universities, as rated by students:
We asked if there are lots of different political groups and activities, such as meetings and demonstrations and whether politics is a visible part of the university experience.
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London
University of Oxford
Goldsmiths, University of London
University of Sussex
University of Cambridge
University of Glasgow
University College London, University of London
University of Edinburgh
University of Birmingham
University of Sheffield
Queen’s University Belfast
Least political universities, as rated by students:
Royal Veterinary College, University of London
Cardiff Metropolitan University
St George’s, University of London
University for the Creative Arts
Southampton Solent University
Top universities for varied student union activities, as rated by students:
We asked how varied a range of activities the student union offers catering to lots of different student interests, including well-attended student nights, and societies and clubs.
University of Leeds
University of Sheffield
Keele University
University of East Anglia
University of Nottingham
Loughborough University
University of Leicester
Newcastle University
Falmouth University
Cardiff University
University of Reading
Lancaster University
University of Dundee
University of Warwick
Universities with student unions offering the least varied activities, as rated by students:
University of the Arts London
University of Ulster
University of Greenwich
University of Cumbria
Oxford Brookes University
University of Bedfordshire
Cardiff Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University
University of Sunderland
City University
Birmingham City University
Top universities for diverse local nightlife, as rated by students:
We asked if there are lots of different types of pubs, clubs and music venues near your university, which cater to a range of tastes.
Newcastle University
University of Manchester
University of Liverpool
Liverpool John Moores University
Northumbria University
University of Sussex
University of Leeds
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow Caledonian University
Universities with the least diverse local nightlife, as rated by students:
Royal Holloway, University of London
University of St Andrews
University for the Creative Arts
University of Chichester
Buckinghamshire New University
University Campus Suffolk
University of Cambridge
University of the West of Scotland
Edge Hill University
University of Winchester
University of East London
Durham University
3. University College London, University of Birmingham, University of Glasgow and University of Leeds were the only universities to score well across the board for nearly all categories:
University College London – creative, political, varied union activities, diverse local nightlife
University of Birmingham – sporty, political, varied union activities, diverse local nightlife
University of Glasgow – sporty, political, varied union activities, diverse local nightlife
University of Leeds – sporty, political, varied union activities, diverse local nightlife
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