What are university rankings?

Rankings are lists of institutions ranked in the order of their performance. Their performance is evaluated against different sets of criteria. Rankings are most commonly compiled by newspapers, websites, the government and academic departments.

How are the rankings calculated?

Each ranking system is different. Some evaluate institutions in a single country, while others look at institutions in Europe, or the whole world. Most rankings rate institutions against criteria such as:

• Teaching quality
• Course entry qualifications
• Research excellence
• Feedback and student satisfaction
• Graduate success and career prospects
• Spending on each student
• Demographics

Do rankings matter?

Each institutions has its own unique merits. You should consider every aspect of your course and university before reaching a decision. A university may be highly ranked overall, but may not be highly ranked for the particular course or subject you wish to study. 

In UK there is no official ranking system because our universities are diverse, which makes rankings difficult and subjective.

However, several newspapers and websites produce guides and rankings. Two are are listed below.

Times Higher Education (THE)

THE is one of UK’s authoritative sources of information about higher education.

Times Higher Education European Universities 2010-2012 rankings place the following UK institutions within the top 50 engineering and technology universities:

• 6th - University of Cambridge
• 7th - University of Oxford
• 10th - Imperial College London
• 26th -  University of Manchester
• 27th -  University College London
  
  
• For more tables and information about how the rankings are calculated visit www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

Guardian University Guide and rankings

Guardian's university league tables cover undergraduate courses at higher education institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There are also subject tables for each engineering discipline. 

Guardian's top 10 universities for mechanical engineering (2012 figures):

1. Southampton
2. Nottingham
3. Imperial College
4. Surrey
5. Lancaster
6. Sheffield
7. Bristol
8. Cardiff
9. Loughborough
10. Sussex

• For more subject tables and information about how the rankings are calculated visit www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide