QUB has returned to The Guardian’s Top 50 University list

For many prospective students, compilations such as The Guardian’s annual University league table can be an imperative resource behind choosing where to apply.

Of course, there’s the consideration of lol can I pull out AAA and maybe even going to open days to check out the local clubs. I’m not sure about you, but I remember my first Limelight.

However, with Queen’s University Belfast now returning to the Top 50 University list, it’ is clear that over the past year, our dear campus is going from strength to strength.

The algorithm which is used to collate overall University league places, relies on a number of criteria to amass to conclusive results. These include, satisfaction with courses, satisfaction with teaching and feedback, as well as the student:staff ratio and average entry levels.

Polling at 53rd place last year which is now taken by Plymouth University, QUB has managed to be brought up to 46th, entering the top 50. This position was shared last year by the University of Sheffield and the University of Stirling.

Considering the data, QUB scored 82.1 per cent in terms of student satisfaction with courses. Building on this 84 per cent were satisfied with the quality of teaching. However, this dropped to 66.4 per cent for student satisfaction with feedback.

87 per cent of students were had secured graduate jobs within fifteen months of graduating and a respectable 95 per cent of students successfully progressed from first year to second.

Building on this, QUB scored in the top 20 in 14 disciplines. Namely, the 2nd best university in the UK for Anthropology studies, 3rd for Pharmacy and Pharmacology and 5th for Agriculture, Dentistry and Urban Planning.

Recent Agriculture graduate Claire Windrum said, ‘The Agricultural Technology with Professional Studies course offered by QUB in conjunction with CAFRE was a great course that enabled me to successfully begin my career in the Agri-Food Industry in Northern Ireland’.

She added, ‘This BSc course is the only Agriculture related course in NI and it is fantastic that it has been ranked 5th in the UK. We need to support our future agriculture generations for a sustainable and secure NI Agri-Food Industry’.

Also commenting on the remarkable accolade was Professor Dominic Bryan, Anthropology lead at Queen’s University Belfast.

He said, ‘We were delighted that the Anthropology degree at QUB was ranked 2^nd in the UK, tucked in just behind Oxford, on the Guardian league tables’.

‘This is a reflection on our young and dynamic academic staff members but also in the work put in by administration staff at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics who help us look after the students’.

‘Many of us retain a healthy scepticism of these league tables, but I am delighted if this raises profile of anthropology. Our discipline examines key issues about what it is to be human and has never been a more relevant.’

From Boojum to Buckfast, Belfast really is a great place to be studying.