Figuring it all out: a guide to how the table was compiled

Teaching assessment | Research assessment | Entry standards | Student-staff ration | Library and computer spending | Facilities spending | Firsts and Upper seconds | Graduate destinations | Comnpletion THE table measures nine key aspects of university activity, using the most recent data available at the time of going to press. All are designed to reflect the quality of one aspect of the university.

For each measure, the top score is set at 100 points and the remainder are calculated as a proportion of this. In the case of teaching, research and graduate destinations, some additional scaling has been introduced to ensure that a very wide or very narrow range of scores does not have a disproportionate effect on the overall ranking. Teaching quality carries the highest weighting of 2.5. Research is also weighted, by 1.5, while all other measures carry their actual scores. Teaching assessmentWhere does it come from? The Quality Assessment Agency and the funding councils send teams of academics to rate university departments. How does it work? The results of teaching-quality assessments are averaged for each university. Not all subjects in England have been completed, but all the results published by January 2000 on the QAA website are included. In the early stages of the assessments the outcomes were excellent, satisfactory, or (in Scotland) highly satisfactory. Now all scores are out of a maximum of 24 and the original categories have been converted to numerical scores on this scale to calculate an average. What should you look out for? Early results (some from 1993-94) are now quite old and much may have happened in a department since then. Research assessmentWhere does it come from? The funding councils' 1996 research assessment exercise. How does it work? Each university department entered in the assessment exercise was given a rating of 5* (top), 5, 4, 3a, 3b, 2 or 1 (bottom). These grades were converted to a numerical scale and an average was calculated, weighted according to the number of staff in the department getting each rating. What should you look out for? A new research assessment exercise will be undertaken in 2001. Entry standardsWhere does this measure come from? Higher Education Statistics Agency data for 1997-98 How does it work? Each student's best three A-level or AS grades are converted to a numerical score (A level: A=10, B=8 . . . E=2; AS A=5, B=4 . . . E=1) and added up to give a score out of 30 for an average for all students at the university. What should you look out for? A-level scores are used for Scottish as well as other UK universities because experience has shown that the usual scoring system for Scottish Highers gives slightly lower results for Scottish universities. There is no widely accepted way of converting scores from other qualifications, so these are not included. Universities which have a policy of accepting students with low grades to extend access policy will tend to have their average score depressed. Student-staff ratioWhere does it come from? Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data for 1997-98. How does it work? The number of students is divided by the number of staff in a way designed to take account of different patterns of staff employment in different universities. What should you look out for? Universities with a medical school will tend to score better. Library and computer spendingWhere does it come from? HESA data for 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 How does it work? A university's expenditure on library and computing facilities (but not buildings) is divided by the number of full-time equivalent students. Expenditure over three years is averaged to allow for uneven expenditure, such as upgrading a computer network. What should you look out for? Some universities are the location for major national facilities, such as the Bodleian Library in Oxford and national computing facilities in Bath and Manchester. These universities will tend to score more highly. Facilities spendingWhere does it come from? HESA data for 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 How does it work? A university's expenditure on student facilities (sports, recreational, health, counselling etc) is divided by the number of full-time equivalent students. Expenditure over three years is averaged to allow for uneven expenditure. What should you look out for? This measure tends to disadvantage Oxford and Cambridge (and possibly some other universities with a collegiate structure) as it only includes central university expenditure. Firsts and Upper secondsWhere does it come from? HESA data for 1997-98 How does it work? The number of graduates with first or upper second-class degrees is divided by the total number of graduates with classified degrees. Enhanced first degrees (eg, an MEng awarded after a four-year engineering course) are treated as equivalent to a first or upper second for this purpose, while Scottish Ordinary degrees (awarded after three years rather than four) are excluded. What should you look out for? Degree classifications are controlled by the universities themselves, although with some moderation by the external examiner system. Graduate destinationsWhere does it come from? HESA data for 1997-98 How does it work? The number of graduates who take up employment or further study within six months of leaving university is divided by the total number of graduates with a known destination. What should you look out for? Universities with large numbers of medical, teaching or engineering graduates will tend to score highly as a high proportion of graduates in these subjects go directly into employment. CompletionWhere does it come from? Performance indicators compiled by the higher education funding councils, based on data for 1997-98 How does it work? The length of time students studied at each university is compared with the length of time they would be expected to study if they completed the course normally. What should you look out for? Completion rates are strongly influenced by the entry qualifications of its students: those with a high average A-level score will also have high efficiency.

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