In data released today, the University of Cumbria has been ranked 28th out of 131 higher education institutions in a student-informed survey.
The WhatUni Student Choice Awards reveal an increase of seven places for the university on its 2018 position.
It builds upon a major improvement secured 12 months ago when the institution enjoyed a jump of 60 places, moving from 95th to 35th in 2018.
Demonstrating sustained improvements in student experience over five years, the university has seen its standing increase annually since 2015 – from 112th in 2015 to today’s 28th position – as has its overall point score (3.51 in 2015 to 4.17 in 2019).
Unlike other league tables, which are based on historical data, the WhatUni Student Choice Awards is the only UK survey that directly reflects student opinion.
University of Cumbria Vice Chancellor Professor Julie Mennell said: “This is excellent news for the university, for a number of reasons, not least as the key difference between the WhatUni Student Choice Awards and other university rankings tables is that it’s solely driven by the opinion of current students.
“Our students are at the heart of everything we do and so we are pleased to see that a significant number have taken the time to let us know their opinions in this nationally-compiled way.
“Through these nationally compiled results, we are delighted to see that students continue to appreciate the work of the university, support given by staff and the steps taken to develop, evolve and improve so that their experiences with us are the best they can be. Actions implemented over the last year include the extension of the opening hours of facilities like our libraries and investments in IT.”
For the WhatUni Student Choice Awards, students give their university an overall star rating of one to five; those results are averaged to create overall ratings (out of five stars) for each university across eight categories of student experiences. Existing students also write a review of their university experience, which helps future students find the right university for them.
Other key headline figures for the University of Cumbria include our overall score increasing to 4.17 this year, up from 4.1 in 2018.
The university has improved in seven of the eight areas with student union and clubs and societies being the biggest improvers in terms of score, and course and lecturers and the student union seeing the biggest rises in rankings.
The university has continued to score well in job prospects and student support too, which further reflects upon the University of Cumbria’s recognised graduate employment success where nine out of 10 graduates are in employment or further study within six months of graduating.
The WhatUni results come a month after the university, a young institution formed in 2007, received Research Degree Awarding Powers. The achievement, following a rigorous assessment, allows the university to design, deliver and award doctorates and other research degrees for the first time.