Looking at universities can seem like a daunting task, especially when it dictates such an important part of our lives. It seems crazy to me that if I chose a different uni, my experience could have been completely different! Where you choose to study impacts more than just your learning. These years at uni bring you more than just good grades, they bring you some amazing experiences and opportunities as well as friends for life.
One helpful way to help you get to know your potential university choices is to look at a university guide and check out its ranking. So, let’s take a look at what gets a university on to a Unifresher top guide.
Unifresher’s top guide focuses on what students have said about their experiences at these universities. It’s all well and good a university having good academic outcomes but if they can’t provide you a freshers week that allows you to get to know the people and the place or have the support to allow you to get the most out of uni then its not going to give you the uni experience you are imagining. The four key areas Unifresher consider in the ranking include, employability, freshers, happiness and sustainability.
Freshers
In my opinion, I quite like that this guide considers areas that matter to students. I remember my first year at uni and how important freshers week was for exploring societies and getting to know the people that have become my closest friends. Considering freshers week in ranking is important for ensuring students are given ample opportunity to get to know the people, the area and accommodation as well as what is on offer during their time at the university, which ultimately will impact the happiness and positivity of your overall uni experience.
The University of East Anglia is a great example of the variety of events that can take place during freshers, allowing students to meet new people and experience taster sessions for a range of societies. Durham University has consistently been ranked as one of the top universities, and its freshers week definitely shows why, offering students support and guidance with getting the most out of fresher week events.
Happiness
The thing I feel students worry about most when starting uni is, am I going to like it here? Is it going to make me happy? That is such an important question because if you are not happy at university, your time there can be really hard. Knowing how happy other students are at your first choice university is definitely something important to consider. Two universities that rated highly for student happiness were the University of Sussex and the Leeds Art University, with both having a rating above 70%.
The University of Sussex is surrounded by the South Downs national park and Brighton, providing plenty for you to do outside of lectures. One thing that makes Sussex a popular choice is that it’s a campus university. Being at a campus university allows you to feel like you are a part of a small community as everything you need is in one place. This makes it easier for you to get to know your surroundings and meet new people. There are also over 180 societies for you to fill your social calendar with, providing you plenty of opportunities to get more than a degree out of your university experience.
Employability
Going to uni and getting that degree in something that you are passionate about is great, but it’s also important to consider what’s next. Many students can relate to the employability struggles of a newly graduate. Some students can even start to face the reality of how hard it can be when searching for placements. The more you talk to students a few years ahead or who have graduated you are more likely to hear about how hard job searching can be. This highlights why universities need to be doing more to support students with navigating the daunting job market. Luckily unifresher includes this as part of the universities rankings, allowing you to be more informed about how your university supports employability.
Two of the top universities for employability include London School of Economics and The University of Bath. London School of Economics has an employability rating at 60% and provides students with the tools and skills to be successful in a highly competitive job market. The University of Bath ranks 2nd, with their rating at 58% for employability. They state that around 87% of their UK based students are in high skilled employment 15 months within graduating, which is higher than UK average. Additionally the university offers students the chance to enter entrepreneurship competitions allowing them to win funding for their business ideas. This is a perfect opportunity for a student with big dreams and the drive to get them.
Sustainability
Sustainability is about more than if your university is paper free or plants trees, it considers how the university contributes and supports its environment. Unifresher measures universities’ commitment regarding how green they are as it reflects how the university considers and manages the impact they have on their environment. Now you may be wondering, why does this matter to me when choosing a university?
Apart from the obvious of it being good for the environment, why should students be considering it when choosing universities?
Sustainable campuses can provide a healthier and more enjoyable environment for students by having plenty of green spaces, energy-efficient buildings, recycling facilities and good public transport options, all of which can have a positive impact on your uni experience. A uni with plenty of green spaces gives you a better opportunity to meet up with friends for a walk or a picnic. If a university has good recycling and waste facilities you are less likely to be seeing rubbish and overfilled bins around campus. This makes it a more pleasant backdrop for your Instagram posts and Tik Tok videos documenting uni life. Additionally, ensuring that the university has efficient sustainability values in place supports you with making positive impacts on your environment, which is an important life skill in an environment that has faced the consequences of a few too many of our bad habits.
According to Unifresher’s Guide the most sustainable university is Bath Spa University. It earns first place through its combination of environmental action and education. This uni treats the environment with the respect it deserves by lowering carbon emissions and providing students access to sustainable foods. This university also provides students the tools they need to better understand their environment and how it can be impacted by their actions.
It is important to remember that these guides and ranks are only a tool to use to compare universities, ultimately what you choose doesn’t have to be the best of the best, it just has to be right for you and align with what you are seeking from your student experience. My university doesn’t necessarily rank highly but through carrying out my own research and listening to previous student experience I found that it gave me what I needed and has been able to provide me an enjoyable university experience. However, as you look at your university options please bear in mind some of these rankings. These can help give you an insight into what your student life could potentially look like, so it’s definitely worth a look!