There are a lot of things that go into making a university great. The research output, the academic rigour, the depth of its history – it all counts. However, what’s probably most important to any incoming freshers is the quality of teaching, and according to a student vote, the best university in the country for teaching is not what you might expect.
Although Cambridge, Oxford, and LSE tend to top well-respected charts like the QS World Ranking and the Complete University Guide, prestige is only half of the story. Sometimes, lesser known institutions actually offer students better experiences, which is where the National Student Survey (NSS) comes in.
The NSS is an annual survey conducted by the Office for Students across the UK which asks final-year university students about their studies, including how satisfied they were with each element of their time. This year, over 357,000 students responded, so it’s a pretty significant achievement to come out of it on top.
This year, Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln was named the best in the country for teaching, with over 90 percent of its students reporting that they were satisfied with their education. With just over 2,000 students, it’s pretty much the definition of small but mighty. In fact, it’s proud to fly the flag for all the nation’s most underrated institutes of higher education.
A spokesperson for the university explained to the BBC that previously ‘people didn't want to go to a small university because they thought they were offering less’, a stereotype which it hopes to disprove. There are pros to being a more compact community, the spokesperson continued, saying: ‘We're a small campus and everybody is so friendly, you walk around, everybody will say hello to you’. Clearly, the students of Bishop Grosseteste, which is to be renamed to Lincoln Bishop in September, are more than pleased with what it has to give.
The next happiest students were at Trinity Saint David University of Wales and the University of the Highlands and Islands with 88.5 and 87.9 percent respectively reporting a positive student experience. Both of them are much bigger than Bishop Grosseteste, but the clear message for any prospective students is that it’s definitely worth considering universities which is not traditionally known as one of the ‘best’ if you want to really enjoy your time.
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