Rosie Drinkwater & Professor Lawrence Young Group Finance Director, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning & Resources) League Tables Where are we, why does it matter?

What are League Tables? National International Methodology & Data Sources Which measures can we have an impact on? (your thoughts) Warwick’s ranking position How important are they? How do they affect us? What action can we take? (your thoughts) Outline

What are League Tables? Love them or loathe them, league tables and rankings are part of the higher education landscape and the newspaper calendar. Source of information for prospective students Bring important issues to attention Used to compare academic achievements of different institutions Use a combination of different metrics There are both national and international university rankings, which are fundamentally different but both seek to rank institutions.

What are League Tables? National Rankings There are currently three national university rankings published in the UK: The primary aim of the rankings is to inform potential applicants about UK universities and specific subjects/courses. National rankings tend to give most weight to the undergraduate student experience and use comparative data from statutory returns.

National Rankings Student Satisfaction Spend Student: staff ratios Entry Tariff Research Quality Completion Employability Good Honours Each rankings provider uses a range of different measures to rank universities, but broadly use a combination of the following metrics:

What are League Tables? International Rankings There are also a number of international university rankings published each year, of which the following three are widely recognised: The Times Higher Education World University Rankings Shanghai-Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities QS World University Rankings International rankings use a very different methodology to the national rankings, using a range of criteria to evaluate teaching and research across many different types of worldwide institutions: Academic and employer surveys Citations per staff member Proportion of international staff/students Alumni/staff prize winners

Methodology & Data

National Rankings: Data and Methodology The national rankings use data from a range of sources, which is available for most institutions across the Higher Education sector and is broadly comparable:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data  Student numbers  Finance return  Student: Staff Ratios  Entry Tariff  Degree classifications  Completion  Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE) survey  National Student Survey (NSS)  Research Assessment Exercise 2008 data

The Guardian University Guide 2014: Methodology The Guardian University Guide uses eight measures to compile the institutional rankings, with the weightings for each measure shown in the table below. Student satisfaction is worth 25% in the Guardian rankings, higher than any of the other national rankings. MeasureDescriptionWeighting (%) Teaching Quality % of final-year students satisfied with the teaching they received. 10 Feedback (assessment) % of final-year students satisfied with the feedback and assessment by lecturers. 10 Overall Satisfaction % of final-year students satisfied with overall quality. 5 Expenditure per student Amount of money spent on each student. 15 Student: Staff ratio Number of students per member of academic and teaching staff. 15 Job Prospects % of graduates who take up graduate-level employment or further study within 6 months of graduation. 15 Value Added Comparison of students' individual degree results with their entry qualifications. 15 Entry Score The average UCAS scores of students currently at the University. 15

Complete University Guide 2014: Methodology The Complete University Guide (CUG) uses nine measures to compile the institutional rankings. Student satisfaction and research assessment are given more weighting, with the other seven indicators weighted equally. MeasureDescriptionWeighting Student satisfaction Average satisfaction score (% agree) for all sections of the NSS (except learning resources). 1.5 Research assessment Grade point average from RAE 2008, weighted by department size.1.5 Entry standardsAverage UCAS tariff score of new students.1.0 Student: staff ratioNumber of students per member of academic and teaching staff.1.0 Academic services spend Expenditure per student on all academic services.1.0 Facilities spendExpenditure per student on staff and student facilities.1.0 Good honours% of graduates achieving a 1 st or 2.1 degree1.0 Graduate prospects % of graduates who take up graduate employment or further study.1.0 Completion % of students expected to complete their course or transfer to another institution. 1.0

The Times-Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014: Methodology This is the first year in which the Times and Sunday Times have published a joint University Ranking, which replaces the separate publications from The Times and The Sunday Times. Eight measures are used to compile the institutional rankings, with the weightings for each measure shown in the table below. MeasureDescriptionWeighting Student satisfaction Average satisfaction score (% agree) across all sections of the NSS.1.5 Research assessment Grade point average from RAE 2008, weighted by department size.1.5 Entry standardsAverage UCAS tariff score of new students under Student: staff ratioNumber of students per member of academic and teaching staff.1.0 Services and Facilities Spend Expenditure per student on facilities (including library and computing resources). 1.0 Completion % of students expected to complete their course or transfer to another institution 1.0 Good honours% of graduates achieving a 1 st or 2.1 degree1.0 Graduate prospects % of graduates who take up graduate employment or further study.1.0

International Rankings: Data and Methodology The international rankings use whatever data is available for a wide range of different worldwide institutions. There is a bias towards science & medicine in the international rankings, due to the use of citations data. This is especially true for the Shanghai-Jiao Tong ranking. Times Higher Education World University Rankings Reputational Surveys Teaching Research Citations per paper Research Income Papers published per academic/research staff Ratio of international staff and students Student numbers Staff numbers Shanghai-Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities Nobel Prize/Field Medal winning: Alumni Staff Highly Cited Researchers Articles published in Nature & Science Articles indexed in Science citation index-expanded & Social Science Citation Index Per capita performance of the institution QS World University Rankings Academic Peer Survey Global Employer Survey Citations per academic staff Academic staff: student ratio International staff ratio International student ratio

Which are the key measures that we can change/have an impact on? 10 minute discussion

Where are we?

Complete University Guide8 Guardian10 Times & Sunday Times10 Warwick’s National & International Rankings Position The following tables summarise Warwick’s ranking in the league tables for 2013/14. Times Higher Education World University Rankings 141 Shanghai-Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities 184 QS World University Rankings64 National International

How important are rankings?

Although the University is not here to chase rankings, they are used as a measure of a university’s national and international reputation. In 2008, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) commissioned research to investigate league tables and their impact on higher education institutions in England and users of the rankings. ‘Traditional’ prospective students are more likely to use league tables Internationally, league tables influence students, academics and governments. Major graduate employers use rankings more than small and medium enterprises With the increase in student fees, rankings seem to have an increasing influence on student recruitment and the external perception of the university.

Why Warwick? Question: Please select the top 3 factors that influenced your decision to study at the University of Warwick from the drop down boxes below. Source: University of Warwick Enrolment Survey 2013/14 intake

Benefits of national rankings Objective data from external agencies (e.g. HESA) is a useful benchmarking tool Better data collection across the sector Research assessment based on a peer-review process Measures broadly reflect year-on-year performance Made up of valuable data used to assess the University’s performance anyway Can be used as marketing asset in student recruitment

Limitations of national rankings Focus on undergraduate student provision at an institutional level Measures are often determined by the data available Insufficient transparency League tables largely reflect reputation Use of subjective data Some measures subject to fluctuation year-on-year Use of historical information Variation between different compilers Comparing different types of university is limited Inherent tension between league table positioning and other initiatives E.g. widening access, lifelong learning and community engagement

How do they affect us? Rankings reinforce some of what we already know about our performance: We need to improve the student experience (indicated by NSS results) Graduate employability is an area for improvement We need to maintain our excellent research performance We perform well on expenditure per student We perform well on entry tariff We cannot be complacent about our performance if we want to maintain our top ten positioning and reputation

What action can we take to improve our ranking positioning? (without spending too much!) 10 minute discussion