The Complete University Guide Rankings Methodology

Complete University Guide Rankings methodology: Rankings are important in understanding the university's performance when put against each other. It helps students decide on universities as ranks are based on a number of indicators. We are going to examine the methodology of the Complete University Guide and understand the ranking indicators that are taken into account while ranking the performance of universities in the UK. It is also one of the best university ranking systems.

This article talks about the university rankings methodology, which includes the parameters considered to evaluate the performance of higher education institutes.

For starters, the data used by the Complete University Guide are sourced from the public domain and include, Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) – the official agency for collecting, analysing, and publishing measurable information about universities, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in Scotland, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) in Wales and the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the National Student Survey (NSS) – controlled by the Office for Students (OfS) in England.

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Complete University Guide Rankings – Parameters

Given below is a list of indicators that are taken into account while deciding the performance of universities across the UK. As informed earlier, all of the information is sourced from the public domain and we have provided the source of the data along with the weightage the same carries.  

Criteria	Data Source	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	HESA	n/a
Student Satisfaction	NSS	5.0
Research Quality	REF	4.0
Research Intensity	HESA	1.0
Graduate Prospects	HESA	100.0
Academic Services Spend	HESA	n/a
Facilities Spend	HESA	n/a
Good Honours	HESA	100
Degree Completion	HESA	100
Student Staff Ratio	HESA	n/a

Now that we have understood the parameters that are taken into account by the Complete University Guide for university and subject rankings. Let us understand each indicator and what they really mean.

Entry Standards

These are not entry requirements per se but provide a rough picture of what the average student admitted achieved in their A-Levels or equivalent exams. This is derived from the average UCAS tariff students have when entering the university.

Student Satisfaction

This particular indicator talks about how satisfied the student is with the overall experience of his course. This is subjective as there is a possibility of having high expectations and being let down and vice versa.

Research Quality

A university with a high research quality score implies that students are going to be taught by leading experts in their field, hence the quality of education is expected to be of high quality.

Research Intensity

This is more of a quantity aspect, as research intensity measures the volume or amount of research happening in a university rather than the quality of it. The larger the number of research the higher the points.

Graduate Prospects

This talks about how likely a student is going to get employment after graduating with their first degree. This is based on how former students are placed regarding employment in their courses. This means the higher the likely hood of landing a job means better credibility and higher points. 

Academic Services Spend

This indicator takes into account the amount of money the university spends per student on all academic facilities such as research centres, resource centres, libraries among others. The higher the spending the university is more likely to have better academic services for the benefit of students and land bigger points.

Facilities Spend

This takes into account the amount of money that a university spends per student on all staff and student facilities such as career services, health and counseling, and sports to name a few.

Good Honours

This talks about the percentage of students who have graduated with a first or upper-second-class honours degree. The higher the number of students with a first or upper second-class honours degree the better the university thus giving it more points.

Degree Completion

This takes into account the total number of students who have successfully completed their degree or transferred to another university, over a particular academic period.

Student-Staff Ratio

This talks about the student-staff ratio and the average number of students to each academic staff member. This does not necessarily guarantee quality education but indicates how stretched an academic staff would be with their time.

Now that we have got the parameters set, lets us see which are taken into account while rankings are made.

Complete University Guide - University Rankings 2021

The Complete University Guide ranks top universities in the UK and the following indicators are taken into account along with their weightage.

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	212
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0
Academic Services Spend	2982
Facilities Spend	1939
Good Honours	100
Degree Completion	100
Student Staff Ratio	Min 10.3

Complete University Guide - Business & Management Rankings

A degree in Business & Management Studies can help students towards a career in almost any industry, the indicators for this include:

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	218
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Complete University Guide - Chemical Engineering Rankings

Chemical Engineering is all about applying physical and life sciences with mathematics and economics to improve the world's infrastructure and more, the indicators for the same are as follows:

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	235
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Complete University Guide - Civil Engineering Rankings

Civil Engineering deals with the construction and design of building our surroundings and the indicators include:

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	222
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Complete University Guide - Computer Science Rankings

Computer Science includes learning all about information technology, artificial intelligence, software engineering among others to become a top problem solver and includes the following indicators:

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	239
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Complete University Guide - Electrical & Electronic Engineering Rankings

Electrical & Electronic Engineering includes the study of robotics, electrical power, microelectronic engineering among others, and includes the following indicators:

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	222
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Complete University Guide - Accounting & Finance Rankings

Accounting and Finance include work including banking, bookkeeping among others, and dealing with large financial information and includes the following indicators. 

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	220
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Complete University Guide - Mechanical Engineering Rankings

Mechanical Engineering includes developing  a range of technologies for industries such as turbine technology and vibration and includes the following indicators:

Criteria	Maximum Score
Entry Standards	222
Student Satisfaction	5.0
Research Quality	4.0
Research Intensity	1.0
Graduate Prospects	100.0

Please note that the university rankings methodology followed and described is that of the year 2021 (for the 2021 batch students), which is the latest data available on the official website.

This is a very modest understanding of the methodology of the Complete University Guide for our readers both Subject-wise and top university. Students who are looking for an in-depth analysis can refer to the official Complete University Guide website or get in touch with us in the comments below for further guidance.