KCL plummets in league tables

King’s has tumbled two places in the league tables to 29th.

It’s another frustrating fall in for King’s students – especially as the uni with the 13th highest entry requirements in the country.

And it’s yet more crippling disappointment as we’ve managed to rank lower nationally than we do internationally.

In the Sunday Times League Table for 2015, KCL has slipped 2 places from 27th to 29th, below Lancaster, Leicester, Cardiff, Newcastle, Surrey and Glasgow, and one place above Kent.

So it’s bad news for students, as we sit firmly out of the top 20 unis nationally for yet another year – even after we hiked to 16th place in the world uni rankings only recently.

And you can’t blame students for feeling cheated  – King’s came in above 25th place in every other measure, including around the top 10 for research quality and graduate prospects .

Much of this comes down to student satisfaction being heavily weighted in most national surveys. King’s ranked a lowly 106th with a score of just 78.7%.

While KCL may perform well in other areas, such as graduate employability where we had one of the highest rankings in the country, our rock bottom student satisfaction is stripping us of any chance of climbing into the top 20.

Some students took the news harder than others

Students told The Tab that the huge costs of University and small amount of contact hours could be a factor – however this isn’t an issue purely at King’s.

Polly Calvert, a 3rd year European studies and Spanish student currently on her year abroad, said: “There isn’t, in my experience, a huge amount of guidance when it comes to essays, particularly in first year when we had no idea how to reference, and the food prices and Library fines are extortionate.

“The year abroad preparation has been disorganized to say the least. We were pretty much left to fend for ourselves..and a lot of things we needed to know King’s seemed to be unaware or unclear of.”

Mike Ranson, a 3rd year Geography student, said: “Lack of transparency! Don’t know what our money goes towards, and what real benefits we’re getting! Also sometimes feels too research focused and not teaching based.”

Another point could be the lack of a fraternal feeling as opposed to universities with a more campus-centric layout (most of those outside London), causing students to identify less with the university and be less loyal.

Margot Cadic, another 3rd year, said: “The only times I really felt part of a student body was during the macadam cup and the alumni games, so unless you’re part of a sports team you might not feel particularly involved in student life.”

Sadly there are many London Uni’s at the bottom of the student satisfaction list

This theory holds ground when compared to the other top London universities – LSE and UCL – who respecitvely came 108th and 101st for student satisfaction. On the other hand Imperial is 31st – what is their secret?