University of the West of Scotland (UWS) features for the first time in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings which were published on Wednesday 21 September 2016.
UWS is celebrating its breakthrough into this prestigious league table which is the only global performance ranking that judges research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
UWS, whose research was rated at internationally-excellent and world leading in the Research Excellence Framework 2014, is in the overall band of 601-800 out of 980, which THE states as the top 5% of universities worldwide. UWS ranks joint 64th out of the 91 UK institutions listed. More than 1,300 universities, from 79 countries, took part in the data collection. The rankings are compiled by THE from 13 metrics across the themes of Teaching, Research, Citations, International Outlook, and Industry Income.
The University prides itself for being an increasingly internationalised university, with a truly global view on teaching and research; its highest ranked area was for International Outlook, coming 320th out of 980 institutions.
The University’s entry into this global league table follows recent strong performances in UK rankings such as the National Student Survey which saw five UWS courses – Aircraft Engineering, Community Education, Forensic Science, Sport and Exercise Science, and Midwifery - come top in the UK for overall student satisfaction. The survey saw 100% of respondents studying these courses state that they were satisfied overall with their course.
The 2014/15 HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) performance indicators showed 95% of all UWS graduates in work or further study six months after graduation, and for its professional employment figures UWS ranks 8% above the Scottish average.
Professor Craig Mahoney, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UWS, said: “We’re committed to growing our international reach and being included, for the first time, in this world ranking which features the best universities from across the globe is fantastic news. It’s a real achievement and testament to the hard work of colleagues across the University and the support of the University Court – our governing Board. UWS is developing, we’re strengthening our academic excellence and building our research expertise to bring benefits nationally and internationally.”
For more information on the THE World University Rankings click here.
The calculation of the THE World University Rankings 2016-2017 was independently audited by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
