24th September 2008
Aston University in Birmingham has been short listed for the
prestigious Sunday Times University Guide 2008 University of the Year.
The rankings and results were published in The Sunday Times on Sunday,
September 21st.*
Aston also achieved its highest ever overall ranking of 29th in this year’s league table.
A Sunday Times news release about the University of the Year said:
‘Low graduate unemployment (3.7%) and a very high level of student
satisfaction, ranking Aston 13th in the UK, make it a popular
destination, with about seven applicants for every place.
‘An impressive 83% of those leaving Aston University walk into
graduate level jobs, ranking it eighth in the UK. This compares with an
average figure of 71%. Sandwich courses prepare students for the world
of work and make them popular among employers - about 70% of students
get hands on experience during a year in industry.
‘Students are extremely satisfied with their experience – The Sunday
Times analysis of the latest national student survey results gives
Aston an 81% score. This makes them among the most satisfied students
at any city centre university, lying just outside the top ten according
to the University Guide. This is reflected in a dropout rate of 7.9% -
much lower than the expected figure of 11.6%.’
Aston was also ranked 22nd by 1,000 leading state and independent secondary school Head Teachers as part of the survey.
Professor Julia King, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University said:
‘I am both pleased and very proud that Aston’s achievements have
been recognised by The Sunday Times. We pride ourselves on giving our
students the best experience we can whilst they live and study with us
here at Aston, and we are delighted at the levels of satisfaction that
they report. Our excellent graduate employment record is combined with
a strong commitment to widening participation, so students from all
backgrounds can come to us safe in the knowledge that their hard work
and investment will deliver good job prospects.
‘We are very much looking forward to welcoming our new intake of
students to the University and I am sure that they will take full
advantage of the opportunities offered to them while they are here.’
ENDS
For further press information or to arrange an interview with an
Aston University spokesperson, please contact Sally Finn on 0121 204
4552 or email s.l.finn1@aston.ac.uk.
Notes for editors:
• *Loughborough University was named University of the Year. For
further information about other University rankings and scores please
consult the full Sunday Times table which is available online at
www.timesonline.co.uk.
• If using this information please credit the Sunday Times.
• The Sunday Times University Guide 2008 was compiled using data
from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa), the National
Student Survey, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, the
national funding councils, head teachers, peers and the 120
institutions themselves. Each university and college is ranked
according to the total mark it achieved across nine distinct areas:
student satisfaction; teaching excellence; head teachers and peer
assessments; research quality; A/AS-level (or Higher/Advanced Higher)
grades achieved by entrants; graduate employment and proportion of
students entering graduate level jobs; percentage of first and 2:1
degrees awarded; student/staff ratios; and dropout rates.
