St Andrews top for teaching quality

The University of St Andrews will be named UK University of the Year for Teaching Quality in The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2017, to be published this Sunday (25 September 2016).

The Guide will also reveal that St Andrews has been ranked 3rd in the United Kingdom, in addition to being runner-up for the title of UK University of the Year.

Welcoming the news Principal Professor Sally Mapstone said: “St Andrews stands for quality across the board. Our staff and students are our greatest assets. This is a ringing endorsement of all they do to advance learning and understanding.

“Our teaching quality benefits from some of the unique strengths that define us: a small but inclusive community where students are encouraged to think freely and widely; and a faculty built of the best scholars and teachers from around the world. Earlier this week we were placed top in Scotland by the Times Higher Education for our international outlook, in recognition of the global nature of our constituents. These two achievements go together.

“We have a centuries old tradition of bringing the brightest minds around the world to share their ideas. Here, as nowhere else, curious students can meet with great teachers and crucially find the thinking space to question what they are taught.

“We have long been recognised for our unique blend of research-led teaching. It is my mission to ensure St Andrews continues to perform nationally and internationally at the highest levels.”

Alastair McCall, editor of The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “There are few things as certain in life as the perennial excellence of the University of St Andrews. It stands in our league table this year behind only Oxbridge and out of sight of all of its rivals in Scotland, helping it to runner-up spot in our UK University of the Year award.

“No university in the country can touch St Andrews, however, when it comes to combining a high ranking in our table with a high ranking in the annual National Student Survey. St Andrews success here with outstanding scores from its students for both the quality of the teaching they receive and their wider student experience shows it is possible to have able, demanding undergraduates and meet their academic expectations. St Andrews had no rivals for our University of the Year for Teaching Quality award.

“With the success of the University of Dundee as Scottish University of the Year also this year, there is some justification to regarding this corner of Scotland as the intellectual Gold Coast of Scotland and, indeed, the wider United Kingdom.”

The new Guide reveals that St Andrews has moved from 4th to 3rd in the UK, and that its student satisfaction rating is the highest in Scotland.

The Sunday Times ranking completes a highly successful year for St Andrews. Scotland’s oldest university was joint-top in the UK in this year’s National Student Survey and among the top five UK institutions in the 2017 Guardian and Good University guides.

Earlier this week the University of St Andrews was positioned as one of the top 200 universities in the world in the THE World University Rankings, and placed top in Scotland for its international outlook.

Notes to news editors

Issued by the University of St Andrews. Contact: Emma Shea on 01334 462167, mobile 07850 900 352, or email [email protected]. Contact the press office on 01334 46 2530.