Have faith in York’s league table ranking
The general ignorance towards the quality of York university is a bemusing thing. Its premier level of achievement has been shown year after year through university rankings, yet it still manages to receive bad press.
As a mere toddler compared to her nearest rivals at just 45 years old, York rose seven places to regain a top 10 position in the Times University Guide and only narrowly missed a similar rating in the Independent and Guardian guides. What’s more is that York has never been out of the Sunday Times top 10, it has an international reputation as the 74th best institution in the world, we benefit from the highest average score in terms of teaching assessment than any other university in the UK and according to the Guardian newspaper, York is ‘one of the best places in the country to study.’
So indeed, my reply in the future should not just indicate York as a good university but an elite one – sidling up to more elderly institutions not as a novice but as an equal partner and one whose achievements have very much been vindicated above those who have relied on their historic positions.
To rifle through past campus newspapers is like reading through an obituary – tales of flouted past glories, declining standards and the death of a premier university. Those now seem to be the ramblings of hyper-pessimists considering York’s status in The Times as one of the ‘biggest movers’ and our return from a supposed dank state in to the rather more comforting higher echelons of the university league. This volatility of student morale however, is made all the worse by the more sensitive nature of York as a younger, less historically established university which naturally necessitates more consoling and cuddles from Brian Cantor.
York’s rise in the league tables should lead to an increase in applications and therefore, hopefully, in the quality of candidates. What’s more is that with Heslington East and new departments such as Law, York will overcome one of her greatest weaknesses – its condition as somewhat of a comparative unknown village university and thus be more attractive to graduate employers than the handful that currently frequent us.
And so as we embark upon a new year it’s time to put past negativities behind us and instead be rightfully proud that we are fortunate enough to attend such a prestigious institution.
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