Sunday Times slams quality of student life at UCL

• No change from last year as uni places 9th overall
• Student satisfaction slumps to humiliating 101st out of 121
• Union slams management’s “structural dislike” of students and cynical admission of wealthy applicants for financial gain

The latest Sunday Times university guide shows rife dissatisfaction from UCL students and makes a mockery of its top ten ranking.

UCL remains 9th in the Sunday Times University Guide but students are among the least satisfied in the country, with the Union denouncing poor quality pastoral care and a “cynical” admissions scheme.

The university fell out of the UK top 100 for student satisfaction and has a disproportionately high number of private school and foreign students.

Despite a joint fifth place ranking with Oxford in the latest QS World rankings, the latest table ranks student satisfaction 101st nationwide, on a par with illustrious institutions including Bolton and the University of the Highlands and the Islands.

UCL made this lot so dissatisfied they turned sepia

And figures show student numbers have swelled by 1,300 as the university takes advantage of relaxed recruitment rules.

Well over a third of students now come from overseas, paying extortionate fees of up to £30k.

Another year of solid academic progress was dashed by the glaring lack of student happiness, which is based on criteria such as personal development and teaching.

Sketchley loves a withering put-down

Commenting on the damning results, Hannah Sketchley, the union’s Democracy and Communications officer, said: “Perhaps if the University focussed on its current students and pastoral care rather than cynically expanding and bringing in more and more high-paying students for their fees, and then immediately neglecting them, the current students would be more satisfied.”

The results seem to have struck a chord with disaffected students on campus. Roshni Mehra, a 2nd year Law student said: “The ridiculous price of rent and travel doesn’t help any student no matter how much someone points to QS Shanghai and revels in the university’s academic rigour”.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. On student satisfaction UCL still sits above a triumvirate of London universities: the Strand Polytechnic (aka KCL), the University of West London and LSE, ranked 106th, 107th and 108th respectively.