Bangor University takes top spot in Alternative University Guide

Instead of traditional university league tables that focus on grades, enrolment and prospects, Unifresher’s 'Alternative University League Table' compares factors illustrating the cost of living and crime rates and universities’ efforts towards sustainability and providing a great student social life.

Bangor University’s stance on sustainability and ambitions to lead the field in terms of sustainability earned the University a high score, contributing to the top spot. The University also came out tops for being a relatively cheap and safe place to study, according to the alternative guide. The final element comprises information from sources of student opinions on the social life at their universities.

Welcoming the news that Bangor University topped the table overall, ranking the highest out of 94 universities in the UK for which all the data was available, Carys Roberts, Head of UK Student Recruitment at Bangor University said,

“There are a variety of ways of finding out about the university you might want to study at. This guide looks at social aspects of studying at a University, which are as valid as information about the nature and quality of the teaching and the course you want to study, when deciding on where to apply.

We always encourage applicants to draw information from a wide range of sources, and importantly, to visit your target universities, so that you get a real feel of the place and an opportunity to meet some of the lecturers who might be teaching you.”

Wales shines in the Guide, with 5 out of the 10 top-ranking universities. Another noteworthy finding is the coastal advantage - 9 out of the 10 best universities are situated by the coast, demonstrating the possible correlation between geographical location and student satisfaction. Being Welsh and by the sea, Bangor University falls under both of these categories.

The compilers based their guide on UK institutions listed in The Complete University Guide, used data from a publicly available data on the cost of living, calculate crime rates, the cost of a ‘McMeal’, cinema tickets, and the price of beer. They  based the sustainability ratings on those produced by People and Planet, and user ratings and experiences on University Compare for scoring the universities’ social life.  Finally, the price of an Uber for a 10km journey starting at each university drawn from the company’s information.