Bath student experience is best in UK

The University of Bath has been ranked as the UK's number one university in the new THE Student Experience Survey 2014.

Our excellent academic, sports and social facilities, good community atmosphere, safe campus, and strong connections with industry are just some of the outstanding strengths highlighted in the survey.

Bath is ranked first out of 113 UK institutions for overall student satisfaction, and finished top or equal first in five of the criteria on which universities were judged.

Almost 15,000 full-time undergraduates took part in polling for the THE (Times Higher Education) survey and were asked to judge their student experience across 21 categories ranging from the quality of the university staff and lectures to whether they would recommend their university to a friend.

We were ranked in the top three UK universities in 12 of these categories by our students including:

• well-structured courses (equal 3rd)
• good community atmosphere (equal 1st )
• good extra-curricular activities and societies (equal 3rd)
• good environment on and around campus (equal 2nd)
• high quality facilities (equal 3rd)
• the way personal requirements are catered for (equal 2nd)
• centralised/convenient facilities (equal 2nd)
• good industry connections (1st)
• good security (1st)
• good library and library opening hours (equal 1st)
• good sport facilities (equal 2nd)
• whether they would recommend the University to a friend (equal 1st)

We also scored in the top ten for three further categories: good Students' Union (5th); high quality staff and lectures (equal 9th); and good support and welfare (equal 7th).

Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, Vice-Chancellor, said: "This is wonderful news. We pride ourselves on giving our students the best possible academic experience and paving the way for them to succeed both at the University and in their future careers.

"We make sure we involve our students in the decisions we make that will affect their time here, and continually work to improve all aspects of their university life. It is therefore very satisfying to hear them talk so highly of their student experience at Bath.

"To be ranked above all other UK institutions and so highly in such a large number of the categories reflects both the dedication of our staff and how happy our students are."