Sussex climbs student experience league table

Back in 2014, Sussex ranked a disappointing 61st place in the annual Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey.  In 2012, we also ranked badly at 56th place. This year, we’ve bagged an impressive spot at joint 38th place with an overall rating of 79 percent satisfaction.

The survey asked over 15,000 full-time undergrad students to rank their university experience based on 21 categories encompassing all aspects of uni life, including library services, support and welfare, extracurricular activities, and staff/ lectures. 117 universities received more than 50 survey responses, meaning that Sussex is in the top third of the unis listed.

Sussex ranked best for its library provisions, with students praising the size of the library and of the book selection, the staff, and the 24-hour opening times. The social life at Sussex was also praised, with the uni climbing the ranks for “good social life”, “good community atmosphere” and “good environment on campus”.

Many London universities are lagging behind Sussex, taking up 12 of the bottom 20 places. This is because of expense, lack of a community feeling, and lack of accommodation. Being only an hour away from London and located in a beautiful spot near city, countryside and coast, Brighton is the perfect alternative.

Speaking to the University, Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Claire Mackie said: “It is obviously good news to see Sussex turn in a much stronger performance than last year and to be very firmly in the top third of the table.

“But plainly we want to do better still and we should also recognise that this survey is highly volatile, so there is no scope for complacency about the most recent performance.”