Dundee University Best For Students

15 May 2014, 05:00 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Dundee University offers the best student experience in Scotland, according to a new study.

It was the top Scottish institution in a new poll to find the university offering the best experience for students, based on measures such as quality of staff, lectures, social life and accommodation.

Dundee was fourth equal with Oxford University in the UK top 10, ahead of Cambridge and Durham universities in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) Student Experience survey.

Sheffield was in first place.

The survey asked full-time undergraduates to rank their university on 21 categories, with over 14,000 students responding.

St Andrews University was rated fourth equal for high quality staff and lectures, while Stirling University was sixth equal.

Dundee's student union was second equal, while Glasgow University's was 10th equal.

Professor Pete Downes, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee, said: "There is nothing more important to a university than the quality of the experience enjoyed by its students, so to come out top in Scotland and in the UK top five in a major survey like this is very encouraging.

"It is a credit to all staff across the institution and also to the Students' Association, with whom we have a very good relationship and who work very hard to help deliver quality to students in all aspects of campus life.''

Iain MacKinnon, president of Dundee University Students' Association, welcomed the top ranking as "fantastic news''.

He said: "We have worked very hard as a Students' Association, alongside the university, to deliver the best possible experience to students here. That covers everything from students having a real voice in the university's decision-making to having some of the best social activities of any institution.

"Dundee is a fantastic place to be a student. The university has invested a lot in facilities over the past few years and that has had a very positive impact on student life.''

Strathclyde University was in fifth equal place for its industry connections.

Stirling was the university considered to be offering the most improved student experience, with Aberdeen placed third equal.

John Gill, editor of THE, said: ''Universities are spending ever more time and money trying to get the 'student experience' right, as they face up to competition for students not just locally and nationally, but also internationally.

''Now in its ninth year, the Times Higher Education Student Experience polls student opinion on 21 aspects of university life and highlights the institutions that are getting certain things right.''