We are Scottish University of the Year!
Published: 22 September 2017
The Principal, Professor Anton Muscatelli, has said that winning Scottish University of the Year is "a wonderful accolade and a real tribute to the hard work and endeavour of every member of staff and every student".
The University of Glasgow has been named Scottish University of the Year by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018.
The university jumped nine places in the national league table to feature inside the UK’s top 20. Glasgow scored gains in six of the nine performance indicators used to rank universities in the annual undergraduate guide, and was also shortlisted for the overall University of the Year award for the whole of the UK.
The University of Glasgow saw improvements in its rankings for graduate prospects, completion rates, teaching quality and student experience. Entry standards also rose using the new UCAS tariff system and the proportion of students graduating with a first or 2:1 went above 83%. The University of Glasgow was also top in three subject tables - for animal science, dentistry and education.
Alastair McCall, editor of The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: "Glasgow has secured the rare double of being both Scottish University of the Year and securing a shortlisting for the UK University of the Year title. Both are well-deserved. Ranked second among Scottish institutions in our league table after a jump of nine places this year, the university is going places.
"It is in the midst of one of the biggest capital spends for a Scottish university - around £1bn over the next decade - with the redevelopment of the former Western Infirmary site, which will reshape the city's West End. It is a great example of the transformational role that can be played by universities, not just in individual lives but in communities more widely and in regional and national domains.
"It recruits internationally based on its outstanding reputation for research, and it has avoided the pitfalls of others in Scotland in being able to provide a student-centric undergraduate experience alongside that. Glasgow's success in the annual National Student Survey is no accident - and neither is its recognition in our University of the Year awards for 2018."
Award for each and every one
Principal Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli messaged all staff and students to share the news and to thank everybody for their endeavours. He said: "Winning Scottish University of the Year is a wonderful accolade and a real tribute to the hard work and endeavour of every member of staff and every student who is associated with Glasgow. It comes just a couple of weeks after Glasgow rose eight places to 80th in the Times Higher World Rankings.
"We will never stand still and will always look to future successes. New students and those returning to the Gilmorehill campus will now notice a lot of demolition and building works going on as we commence our £1bn programme of development, perhaps the biggest educational infrastructure programme in Scotland's history. The buildings, labs and research hubs will be truly state-of-the-art, providing the very best facilities for teaching, research and learning.
"This award of Scottish University of the Year is one that we should all take a pride in - because it is an award for each and every one of us."
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “As an alumna, I want to offer my congratulations to the University of Glasgow for being named Scottish University of the Year - a great achievement by the staff and students. It is very fitting that the university’s strengths in research, teaching and graduate employability have been recognised in this way as work gets underway on its expansion plans, ensuring that the education, experience and facilities offered by Glasgow continue to lead the way not only in Scotland, but on the world stage.”
Footsteps of giants
Kate Powell, President of the Students’ Representative Council, said: “We are so happy that Glasgow has been named as Scottish University of the year. Glasgow is a fantastic place to study, with one of the best student experiences anywhere in the UK. The SRC works hard to represent all students, and the partnership that we have with the university means that we have representation and impact at levels of decision making.”
The Rector of the University of Glasgow, Aamer Anwar, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and real recognition of the thousands of staff who work at this university and the students who have made it so. This university has been around for over five centuries. It is the fourth oldest university in the English-speaking world. This is again recognition of the fact that we are leaders. We are in the top world 100. We walk in the footsteps of giants. We have inventors; we have scientists; we have doctors; we have lawyers; we have thinkers; we have philosophers in a university that is a cultural colossus. We have people who have all led from the front and made us proud. I am delighted that Glasgow is Scotland’s University of the Year”.
First published: 22 September 2017