Understanding Newspaper League Tables Nov 2015 Katarina Thomson Planning and Statistics

Three main newspaper league tables Times Good University Guide Complete Guide Guardian 2

Current overall position for University of Greenwich in league tables published 2015 TimesCompleteGuardian 106 of of of th decile 8 th decile 3

Where do the data come from? 4 University Final year students responding to National Student Survey (NSS) Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Ipsos-MORI Higher Education Funding Council for England (hefce) League table compilers League tables published in newspapers and on the web Former students responding to Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey Data to be sent to newspapers supplied for information and checking Via statutory submissions (Student, Staff, Finance, DLHE) 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Measures in league tables with weight TimesCompleteGuardian Student satisfaction11% + 5%17%25% Research quality / intensity16%11% + 6% Student – staff ratio11% 16% Spend per student on academic services and/or facilities 11%6% + 6%10% Tariff scores on entry11% 16% Good honours (1 st & 2:1)11% Value added16% Completion rates / dropout compared with benchmark 11% Graduate prospects11% 16% 5

University of Greenwich rank (2015 publication) TimesCompleteGuardian Student satisfaction88 (7 th decile) 67 (7 th decile) 54 (5 th decile)91 (8 th decile) 71 (6 th decile) 47 (4 th decile) Research quality/ intensity92 (8 th decile)99 (8 th decile) 85 (7 th decile) Student – staff ratio103 (9 th decile)102 (9 th decile)97 (9 th decile) Spend per student on academic services and/or facilities 96 (8 th decile)85 (7 th decile) 53 (5 th decile) 101 (9 th decile) Tariff scores on entry79 (7 th decile)85 (7 th decile)75 (7 th decile) Good honours (1 st & 2:1)100(8 th decile)99 (8 th decile) Value added33 (3 rd decile) Completion rates / dropout compared with benchmark 80 (7 th decile)107 (9 th decile) Graduate prospects113(9 th decile)124 (10 th decile)117 (10 th decile) 6

Student satisfaction National Student Survey Conducted by ipsos-MORI on behalf of hefce 2016 Guides (2015 publication) based on: –Complete & Guardian: 2014 survey –Times / Sunday Times: 2015 survey 7

Student satisfaction measure: details TimesCompleteGuardian Measure 1:One measureMeasure 1: % agree from% agreeOverall satisfaction sections on:all core questions Measure 2: TeachingExceptTeaching Assessment & feedback3 questions on resources Measure 3: Academic supportAssessment & feedback Measure 2: % agree from Organisation & management Learning resources Personal development Overall satisfaction 8

Research excellence 2014 Research Excellence Framework Complete Guide computes separate measures for research quality and research intensity from the REF The Times combines the two measures Not used in the Guardian Guide 9

Research excellence: details TimesComplete REF scores: 4* weighted 3Research quality and 3* weighted 1REF scores: 4* to 1* given weights 4-1 and averaged Multiplied by number of staff submitted as proportion of all eligible staff Weighted by number of staff in dept Research intensity: Number of staff who submitted divided by number of eligible staff 10

Student – staff ratio 2013/14 HESA staff and student submission Numerator: FTE students Denominator: FTE of academic staff on: –teaching or –teaching & research contracts By cost centre Partner college students and staff are excluded 11

Spending per student on non-academic services and/or facilities Meant to capture non-staff spending Data comes from HESA finance return Spend per FTE student Often averaged over 2 or 3 years 12

Spending per student measure: details CompleteGuardianTimes Measure 1:Departmental spending Excluding staff costs Academic services excluding staff costs Spending on academic services plus spending on academic services plus spending on staff and student facilities including library & computing divided by student FTE Averaged over 2 years Measure 2: Smaller departments Spending on staff & student facilities averaged over 2 years Divided by student FTE Extreme values suppressed Averaged over 3 years 13

Tariff on entry: overview Average UCAS tariff of first degree new entrants with A-levels or equivalent Includes partner college students but excludes those on year 0 Thought to be seen as a measure of the quality of student population 14

Tariff on entry 2016 Guides (published 2015) TimesCompleteGuardian First year, first degree All modesFull-time & sandwich Aged under 21No age limitAged under 21 Excluding those on foundation years Excluding those with 0 tariff points Based on those with A/AS level, IB diploma/ certificate, Baccalaureate (inc Scottish & Welsh), Diploma/ Certificate/ Award at level 3, Cambridge pre-U diploma/certificate, Other qualification at level 3, Level 3 qualification of which some or all are subject to UCAS tariff Data from 2013/14 HESA student return i.e entrants 15

Good honours Proportion who get 1 st or 2:1s Not used by the Guardian 16

Projected completion rates Percentage who finish their studies Based on HESA projected outcomes (performance indicator T5) Not used by the Guardian 17

Value added score Used by the Guardian only “… an institution that is adept at taking students with low entry qualifications, which are generally more difficult to convert into a 1st or 2:1, will score highly in the value-added measure if the number of students getting a 1st or 2:1 exceeds expectations.” Of full-time & sandwich first degree qualifiers, excluding those doing top ups Each student is assigned an entry band based on tariff points or type qualification on entry If student obtained a 1 st /2:1 they score the reciprocal of the probability of getting a 1 st /2:1 for people with that entry qualification Students with ‘other qual, level not known’ and ‘qual without a tariff’ (mainly overseas students) are given the same probabilities as other students doing the same subject at the same institution Results are added up and converted to an overall score 18

Graduate prospects: overview Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey Guardian and Complete Guide published in spring 2015 used 2012/13 leavers (mainly interviewed Jan 2014) Times published in Sept 2015 used 2013/14 leavers (mainly interviewed Jan 2015) Full-time or sandwich, first degree students UK domiciled 19

Graduate prospects: detailed calculation Standard occupational Classification Groups 1-3 (Managers, directors or senior officials; Professional occupations; Associate professional occupations) or graduate further study Those working, studying or looking for work 20

Score and rank: Score – depends (largely) on our own results Rank – depends also –how everyone else is doing –newspaper weightings Possible to improve our score without improving our rank, if everyone else is also improving 21

Summary of changes need to reach 50 th rank - mainly using Guardian (currently 92 out of 119) MeasureCurrent decile Changes need to reach 50 th rank if no one else changes their scores Overall8 th Improve scores on component measures Student satisfaction 4 th – 8 th Continually improve NSS scores as sector scores are rising Research quality-Better scores in next REF Student – staff ratio 9 th Reduce student numbers by about 16% or increase teaching staff numbers by about 19% (or a combination) Non-staff spending (Times figures) 8 th Raise non-staff spending by 30% 22

Summary of changes need to reach 50 th rank in Guardian (currently 70 out of 119) MeasureCurrent decile Changes need to reach 50 th rank if no one else changes their score Tariff on entry7 th Raise average from approx BCC to approx BBB (assuming a 4th subject grade B at AS-level) Value added3 rd Improve proportion of 1st/2:1 relative to average tariff on entry Graduate prospects (Times figures) 9 th Raise proportion in graduate employment / graduate further study from about 58% to about 72% 23

League tables by subject League tables have their own subject classification based on JACS codes League tables shows component measures and overall score and rank for each subject Mapping is in the public domain – we have an input into the Guardian mapping 24

Subject classifications Complete: 73 categories Times: 66 categories Guardian: 53 categories 25