Student Experience Survey 2014: University of Sheffield ranked top for 'student experience'

The University of Sheffield has been named the best place to study for a degree, according to students.

The red brick institution topped The Times Higher Education (THE) Student Experience Survey 2014.

It scored 84.7 across categories such as quality of staff, lectures, social life and accommodation.

Sheffield rose from third last year to secure first place, knocking the previous winner, the University of East Anglia (UEA), off the top spot. UEA dropped to third place, followed by the University of Bath.

Dundee and Oxford were in joint fourth place, with Cambridge in sixth, Exeter in seventh, Durham in eighth, Leeds in ninth place and Nottingham rounding out the top 10 in tenth position.

Exeter, Durham and Nottingham all entered the top 10 this year, with Exeter rising from 26th place last year.

The survey asked full-time undergraduates to rank their university on 21 categories in total, with over 14,000 students responding.

A breakdown of the results by category shows that Oxford was the most highly rated by students for high quality staff and lectures, Sheffield was top for students' union and Bath scored the highest for industry connections.

Stirling was the university considered to be offering the most improved student experience.

THE editor John Gill, said: “Universities are spending ever more time and money trying to get the 'student experience' right, as they face up to competition for students not just locally and nationally, but also internationally.

”Now in its ninth year, the Times Higher Education Student Experience polls student opinion on 21 aspects of university life and highlights the institutions that are getting certain things right.“

Additional reporting by Press Association