Shropshire's Harper Adams University climbs into top 20 per cent

Harper Adams, near Newport, is one of the highest climbers in the Complete University Guide national league table – jumping from 48th to 27th place.

The university had already made significant strides in recent years, advancing from 84th, to 60th, then 48th in the league table of 131 higher education institutions.

However, Wolverhampton University, which has a campus at Priorslee, Telford, remains in the bottom 10, despite climbing five places in the 2020 university league tables.

It is 124th in the list and makes the Black Country university the second bottom in the West Midlands, only one rank ahead of Newman University in Birmingham.

Harper Adams is the third highest ranked university in the West Midlands, with the University of Warwick and Birmingham in first and second respectively.

Welcoming the news, Professor Peter Mills, the university's deputy vice-chancellor, said: “I am so proud of the achievements of the university staff and students across all measures and delighted that the compilers of the Complete University Guide have recognised this through methodology that has seen Harper Adams climb from 84th to 27th place in five years – and now to the very cusp of the top 20 per cent of all universities.

“The guide’s editor has commented on the significant improvement in graduate prospects across the sector this year and this is one area of particular success for Harper Adams, which scooped the Job Prospects WhatUni Student Choice Award last week – for the fourth year running.

Emphasis

"Our graduate employment rate of 97.2 per cent is achieved thanks to extensive support from our staff; strong, long-standing links to industry and compulsory placement year for all undergraduates.”

Dr Bernard Kingston, chairman of TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk, said: “The evidence is clear; the increased emphasis, including funding, on employability and career planning within academic departments and student services is bearing fruit.

“Many institutions now have this as a core element of their strategic plans with the introduction of innovative programmes of subject-specific careers events focussed on embedding and signposting graduate destinations.

“This is being supported through increased links to alumni and outside professionals leading to higher-skilled work experience.

"Such developments have been strongly encouraged by prestigious annual awards from AGCAS – the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services – and the Institute of Student Employers.”

Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect, the group behind TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk, said: “These independent and unbiased league tables are used by almost a million applicants and their advisers monthly and are, as importantly, also well respected by the universities themselves for their accuracy and stability.

“Fully online and free to access, TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk university rankings provide users with independent and trustworthy league and subject tables.

"Each of the guide’s tables can be sorted by their individual measures, year, region and mission group.”

The main university league table is based on 10 measures, which include entry standards, student satisfaction and graduate prospects.