Deciding which university to go to is no easy feat and, for some students, university rankings, particularly those published by QS, are often a deciding factor.
One of our corporate projects, under the 10-Year plan portfolio, is taking an in depth look at the QS World University Rankings which serve as one of our Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The aim is to provide data analysis and guidance to colleagues to help them ensure their subject area is well represented and given the recognition it deserves, which also influences our overall ranking.
As part of our project, we’ve invited Ben Sowter, Senior Vice-President at QS, to visit the University on 6 December, 12:30 – 13:30 in Building 37/4049 Senate Room for an open session on QS. You can book your place on Eventbrite.
What are the QS rankings?
QS, or Quacquarelli Symonds, is a global higher education company. It uses its data and surveys to publish several different rankings. The two most relevant to Southampton are:
- QS World University Rankings (QS-WUR): this ranks individual higher education institutions globally against each other
- QS-WUR by Subject: this ranks institutions by subject.
Mark Spearing, Vice-President Research and Enterprise, offers his thoughts about the importance of QS:
“Applicants considering which university they want to study at and academics thinking of moving to a new institution, as well as many of our research partners, all look at QS. Performing well in this ranking, therefore, directly affects our future performance in education and research. Overall this represents a virtuous circle, as the ranking is itself attempting to measure the quality of these activities.”
Two key metrics in these rankings are a university’s academic reputation and its reputation among employers.
Academic reputation: this metric makes the largest contribution to the QS-WUR, at 40 per cent (this percentage varies by subject in the QS-WUR by Subject).
In order to calculate this metric, QS invites academics across the world to complete a survey each February which asks them to identify up to two subjects in which they consider themselves expert, followed by the institutions they consider to be excellent within one of five subject areas.
Employer reputation: this metric also relies on QS survey results (also sent in February), and contributes 10 per cent to the QS-WUR (and a varying percentage in the QS-WUR by Subject).
QS asks employer respondents to identify universities they consider to be excellent for the recruitment of graduates, as well as the disciplines from which they prefer to recruit.
As part of the Rankings project, work is underway to help staff understand the metrics that underlie the rankings. The project team are meeting with faculties and schools to provide analysis of QS raw data and support colleagues on how they can make sure our subjects are recognised against other institutions in the UK and around the world.
How can you do your subject justice in QS?
- Regularly share with peers activity and successes in your subject area
- Remember colleagues you have collaborated/worked with or taught, identifying a group of key ‘friends’ (inc. PG alumni)
- Send QS email template, which academics receive in November or December, inviting these peers to register (NB: anyone can send this)
- Discuss with the media team about upcoming activity in your subject area
Read more about what you can do on our World Rankings SharePoint site.
There’ll be a longer article about the QS rankings in the next edition of Re:action later this November.
