Which UK University ?

Over the years, the number of International students flocking into the United Kingdom has astronomically been on the increase for several reasons. These reasons range from the lack of faith in the existing quality of education in the various home countries to the opportunity of improving knowledge/skills in a country that is acknowledged to have some of the best schools in the world as a result of a strong academic structures. Looking at these list of reasons from individuals perspective, the singular common underlying reason can be linked to the ever increasing competition in the labour market.

Prior to the 90's the idea of obtaining a post graduate degree from  an overseas university gave a lot of people a great edge in competing for the best jobs back in their home countries. However with the increased awareness and subsequently in the numbers of people from these countries now making it a priority to enhance their academic knowledge in overseas universities, it seems these days that it is not just enough having that degree from abroad but which UNIVERSITY the degree was gained from is now the question been asked. For prospective students, the question you want to ask yourself is, "Do i just want a PG degree from any university in the UK or you want an excellent education from the best school(s) in the UK ?

Schooling in the UK could be expensive but worthwhile, decisions on the choice of schools amongst international students varies but at the end of the decision making process is mostly infleunced by finances or to be precise affordability as most international students are self funded. While it does make sense to give a great consideration to affordability in the short term, it is however wise to consider in the long term the quality of education as well as the reputation of the university of your choice. Choosing a lowly rated university undermines the very reason why as a professional/student you have chosen to deny yourself to come all the way in pursuit of an academic qualification in the first place. In most times, the difference in fees between the lowly and highly rated schools are not so far apart and in most situations can be made up.

It is also imperative to consider your choice of schools based on your course of study. This is because some of the schools are better rated than the others when it comes to certain courses. A long observation of international students revealed a pattern leaning towards majority having a preference for schools in London. A majority of the top London schools aside from been more focused towards the Business/Finance courses could be extremely expensive in terms of tuition fees as well as cost of living. This does not mean that there aren't equally good schools outside London with cheaper living cost. Based on experience of students overtime, Universities outside London also comes with positives of less distraction and closer interaction amongst students of diverse background which in most times is more of what post graduate studies is all about. Schools such as the University of Durham, aside from been a top rated school built on a rich history, tradition and academic culture & excellence in the UK is also known for its large pool and spread of international students. Hence it is not just about the academic knowledge gained from the teachers but also about knowledge based on experience from students from other countries.

Concluding from above, it is safe to say that while fees is of imprtance in making a choice, this should actually be the last item on your list of criteria while making a choice of which UK university do i choose. To help further, a list of the top 100 hundred universities in the UK is apended below. It should however be noted that there is a always a movement based on a review of rating conducted annually. For the 2013 session you can see the table below

 University League Table 2013

CUG Rank		University Name	Entry Standards		Student Satisfaction		Research Assessment		Graduate Prospects		Overall Score
2013	2012
1	1	Cambridge	593		4.2		2.98		84.4		1000
2	4	London School of Economics	526		4.0		2.96		87.8		996
3	2	Oxford	572		4.2		2.96		79.8		995
4	3	Imperial College London	553		3.9		2.94		87.1		959
5	5	Durham	501		4.1		2.72		78.5		912
6	6	St Andrews	515		4.2		2.72		74.1		855
6	8	Warwick	496		4.0		2.80		77.6		855
8	7	University College London	495		4.0		2.84		79.9		847
9	9	Lancaster	409		4.0		2.71		73.6		841
10	10	Bath	457		4.1		2.71		79.1		824
11	11	Bristol	477		4.1		2.72		79.2		812
12	12	York	450		4.1		2.78		70.6		811
13	15	Exeter	456		4.1		2.62		73.0		809
14	19	Loughborough	391		4.1		2.62		72.1		803
15	14	Southampton	439		3.9		2.72		72.0		802
16	13	Edinburgh	470		3.8		2.75		74.5		801
17	21	Glasgow	459		4.1		2.59		77.0		792
18	16	King's College London	456		3.9		2.69		79.6		781
19	17	Nottingham	435		4.0		2.67		76.0		776
20	23	Leicester	407		4.1		2.45		65.1		774
21	19	Sussex	381		4.1		2.61		71.1		773
22	28	Surrey	394		4.0		2.58		72.5		772
23	22	Birmingham	433		3.9		2.64		74.0		769
23	24	Newcastle	425		4.0		2.63		76.5		769
25	31	Queen's, Belfast	383		3.9		2.56		71.9		754
26	33	Royal Holloway	394		4.0		2.67		66.1		750
27	27	East Anglia	393		4.1		2.58		62.8		749
28	26	Sheffield	443		4.0		2.72		72.7		745
29	29	Manchester	421		3.9		2.82		70.5		744
30	18	SOAS	408		3.8		2.60		64.5		743
31	30	Liverpool	406		3.9		2.54		71.0		740
32	34	Reading	374		4.0		2.53		69.3		737
33	34	Kent	348		4.0		2.60		69.6		732
34	25	Aston	379		4.0		2.43		75.7		729
34	32	Leeds	411		4.0		2.72		73.0		729
36	37	Cardiff	431		3.9		2.69		76.1		720
37	40	Strathclyde	435		3.9		2.45		72.0		710
38	41	City	370		3.9		2.48		71.7		703
39	38	Essex	326		4.0		2.77		53.7		701
40	38	Heriot-Watt	383		4.0		2.48		71.5		700
41	50	Brunel	342		4.0		2.32		61.3		699
42	36	Queen Mary	393		4.0		2.73		71.1		689
43	43	Dundee	371		4.0		2.54		68.2		665
44	46	Aberdeen	397		4.0		2.57		71.5		657
45	46	Oxford Brookes	323		3.9		2.20		64.1		643
46	44	Keele	335		4.1		2.41		71.8		641
47	48	Hertfordshire	294		3.9		2.40		60.7		628
48	59	University of the Arts, London	303		3.7		2.49		55.5		621
49	54	Swansea	341		3.8		2.43		66.3		615
50	57	Goldsmiths College	339		3.9		2.58		52.2		610
50	45	Stirling	332		4.0		2.41		60.5		610
52	51	Robert Gordon	332		4.0		2.06		78.4		609
53	67	Lincoln	315		4.0		1.90		67.0		606
54	60	Northumbria	314		3.9		2.15		63.6		604
55	42	Buckingham	271		4.4				76.4		602
56	62	Hull	325		4.0		2.37		67.8		599
57	58	Huddersfield	297		4.1		2.10		69.3		597
58	49	Aberystwyth	305		4.1		2.48		52.1		592
58	61	West of England, Bristol	297		3.9		2.20		65.1		592
60	52	Ulster	282		3.9		2.48		49.9		591
61	62	Bournemouth	324		3.7		2.18		65.1		586
62	55	Nottingham Trent	300		3.8		2.16		59.6		585
63	66	Birmingham City	280		3.9		2.31		61.9		581
63	53	Plymouth	300		3.9		2.18		62.4		581
65	72	Coventry	284		4.0		1.85		66.8		575
66	78	Bangor	293		4.1		2.43		61.9		573
67	56	Chichester	290		4.1		1.96		53.5		568
68	80	Chester	282		4.0		1.74		67.1		561
69	65	Central Lancashire	294		3.9		1.96		57.7		555
70	68	Brighton	289		3.9		2.37		52.7		554
71	73	Bradford	277		3.9		2.34		69.0		553
72	62	Sheffield Hallam	302		3.8		2.05		57.6		550
73	77	Westminster	290		3.7		2.23		59.3		549
74	75	Gloucestershire	286		4.0		1.72		53.3		548
75	85	Bath Spa	301		4.0		1.89		53.7		544
76	70	Winchester	287		3.9		2.16		51.0		543
77	81	Portsmouth	287		4.0		2.24		61.9		540
78	97	Salford	283		3.8		2.36		56.4		539
79	68	Cardiff Metropolitan	271		4.0		1.88		52.2		538
80	81	De Montfort	283		4.0		2.32		56.0		537
81	76	Glasgow Caledonian	331		3.8		2.01		55.5		533
82	103	Bedfordshire	207		3.9		2.09		57.4		527
83	71	Middlesex	219		3.9		2.18		55.5		523
84	87	Queen Margaret	328		3.8		1.37		56.8		517
85	88	Kingston	278		3.8		2.04		56.6		514
86	93	Manchester Metropolitan	291		3.8		2.16		58.1		511
87	100	Canterbury Christ Church	255		3.9		1.79		62.9		510
88	73	Roehampton	258		3.9		2.20		60.1		503
89	91	Sunderland	274		4.0		1.86		50.2		502
90	101	Liverpool John Moores	268		3.9		2.15		51.8		500
91	84	Edinburgh Napier	290		3.9		1.83		65.4		496
91	83	Glamorgan	286		3.9		2.04		54.9		496
93	107	Buckinghamshire New	231		3.9		1.67		48.7		492
94	98	Edge Hill	262		4.0		1.50		62.0		491
95	95	Leeds Metropolitan	261		3.8		2.05		53.6		488
95	79	University for the Creative Arts	260		3.8		1.90		49.5		488
97	90	Teesside	288		4.0		1.99		58.6		484
98	86	Cumbria	262		3.8		1.23		60.4		478
98	108	Derby	273		4.0		1.96		52.2		478
100	104	Glyndwr	212		4.0		1.69		66.9		477
101	105	Northampton	238		3.9		1.69		50.4		475
102	109	Greenwich	252		4.0		1.90		55.1		473
103	102	York St John	280		4.0		1.40		53.1		469
104	92	Trinity Saint David	244		3.8		2.11		51.1		468
105	89	University of Wales, Newport	257		3.9		2.42		50.0		458
106	110	Anglia Ruskin	240		3.9		2.07		54.8		456
107	106	Worcester	282		4.0		1.54		56.2		453
108	99	Staffordshire	246		3.9		1.62		58.9		452
109	116	London South Bank	211		3.8		2.24		61.0		432
109	93	West London	229		3.8		1.67		53.8		432
111	95	Abertay Dundee	277		3.9		1.83		48.8		413
112	111	Southampton Solent	265		3.8		1.49		41.9		398
113	112	West of Scotland	269		3.9		1.84		58.2		394
114	115	London Metropolitan	224		3.7		1.84		47.9		358
115	113	East London	195		3.9		2.24		48.6		313
116	114	Bolton	230		3.9		1.75		41.4		312

Maximum scores:
Student Satisfaction	5.00	Facilities spend	N/A
Research Assessment	4.00	Good Honours	100.0
Entry Standards	N/A	Graduate Prospects	100.0
Student Staff Ratio	N/A	Completion	100.0
Academic Services Spend	N/A	Overall Score	1000.0