Oxford University Outranked Cambridge in THE Survey

In the Times Higher Education Student Experience survey, an average of 20,000 undergraduate students from UK universities is asked to rate their satisfaction with their institutions and describe their negative or positive experience across seven categories. Cambridge University had always been ranked inside the top ten in the survey since 2009, but now it is excluded.

In 2018’s survey, Oxford University ranked sixth, which is considered an improvement compared to its seventh rank in 2017. The rankings top occupier this year is Loughborough University, which is its fifth since 2009.

On the one hand, when it came to student welfare, Oxford ranked 12^th and 14^th for student accommodation. It also ranked 27^th for facilities and 24^th for student safety and plummeting. Surprisingly, Oxford came 11^th for student social life rate across the UK and was excluded this year from the top 10 in this category. Further, the university marked second in academic experience category after Harper Adams University that topped the list.

On the other hand, Cambridge University got an impressive 4^th score for academic experience; however, students rated it 18^th in the country after Lancaster University, the University of Nottingham and Edge Hill University. Cambridge came above Oxford in only two of the less-crucial categories and ranked 41^st when students were asked about the student welfare support.

Former president of Student Minds Cambridge, Keir Murison, commented on the survey saying: "It is very disappointing that Cambridge, which continues to claim to be ahead of the curve in terms of teaching and academic success lag so far behind in this critical area. Their inability to recognise that students who are well supported and not overworked are able to perform much better academically. Coming in as one of the lowest Russell group and significantly below Oxford shows Cambridge really needs to start listening to the calls of its students to sort out its welfare problems."