Methodology behind the 2025 Guardian University Guide
The compiler of the Guardian university league tables explains the technicalities of the process
The main table and subject tablesHow to use the Guardian University GuideDownload the spreadsheetsView the full guide
We use eight measures of performance, covering all stages of the student life cycle, to put together a league table for 66 subjects. We regard each provider of a subject as a department and ask each provider to tell us which of their students count within each department.
Our intention is to indicate how likely each department is to deliver a positive all-round experience to future students and, in order to assess this, we refer to how past students in the department have fared. We quantify the resources and staff contact that have been dedicated to past students, we look at the standards of entry and the likelihood that students will be supported to continue their studies, before looking at how likely students are to be satisfied, to exceed expectations of success and to have positive outcomes after completing the course. Bringing these measures together, we get an overall score for each department and rank departments against this.
How good are teaching staff at explaining things?
How often do teaching staff make the subject engaging?
How often is the course intellectually stimulating?
How often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?
How clear were the marking criteria used to assess your work?
How fair has the marking and assessment been on your course?
How well have assessments allowed you to demonstrate what you have learned?
How often does feedback help you to improve your work?
