The Pinterest girls know it: St Andrews – if only courtesy of our meandering streets, historic city centre and "steep and lofty cliffs" (Wordsworth would’ve loved our little town if its similitude to Tintern Abbey is a guide to go by) – deserved to be in the number one spot of The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide. Take it from me, a St Andrews student (and most certainly not one who cares about what it looks like on our CVs).
But what is the impact of the latest ranking – namely, second place to LSE in the 2025 league table?
Ultimately, rankings are there to give a comprehensive score of what the overall experience in the university is, with criteria ranging from student satisfaction score to entry grades (yes, your personal opinion, if only minimally, affects our rank).
They prove the basis for competition in the labour market that eagerly awaits the end of our years of study here and they set us apart from the mass of job applications through the seal of quality that this university supposes. Or perhaps, in a much less possible case, it justifies the employer’s decision to reject us.
Not everything can be as delightful as a picnic at St Mary’s Quad (which in my humble opinion, stands incomparable). Criteria regarding staff-to-student ratio or research affect us negatively, fairly impaired by being a small university.
While, under this light, St Andrews’ last score leaves a small space for improvement (just to be a little less anxious while visiting the Careers’ Centre for the twentieth time) and raises concerns about our future position, we must remember that we’ve been placing consistently over the last few years, ranking solidly within the top five UK universities.
Plus, let us not forget we’ve been first place in the country several times too (the northern wind pleas for Saint Oxbridge like it once pleaded for the moon)!
So, the best we can do is congratulate everyone involved in the University of St Andrews for this year’s rank and keep trying our best to improve!
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