Leeds storms up uni rankings to highest place ever
And we’re runner up in University of Year
The Sunday Times Uni Guide 2014 is out and it’s good news for Leeds.
Not only did we jump up 12 places in the Guide to 17th but we are runner up to “University of the Year” behind Warwick.
Leeds also retained its place in the Top 100 universities in the world.
This is a refreshing change from The Guardian’s ranking of Leeds which put us down to 28th in the UK, prompting us to pretend we didn’t care about such trivial matters.
Now we’ve done quite well we’ve realised how massively important these league tables are.
Vice-Chancellor Sir Alan Langlands said: “Being runner-up for University of the Year is a great acknowledgement of the dedication, commitment and hard work of staff and students at Leeds.
“League tables provide only a snapshot of university strengths, but these latest rankings rightly place us among the leading universities in the UK and among the most influential and respected higher education institutions in the world.”
The Guide entry featured Leeds’ very own SU Officer Bradley Escorcio who praised what the city had to offer but complained about “pushy” landlords.
Student opinion varied on the Guide’s importance.
Jenny Cumiskey, a third year economist, said: “It’s not exactly a big deal. A higher ranking doesn’t mean the uni is any better or worse.”
But fourth year engineer James Collett said: “I think it’s great. Leeds may be ranked 17th for studying but it’s definitely number one for banter.”
Despite elation over Leeds’ success, the University is still outranked by UEA. There’s always next year.