Moving up the ranks

Seven out of eight subject areas in the School have been rated in the top 10 in the country according to the Guardian University guide 2014 subject tables released last week.

The School achieved exceptional results for Film Studies and Philosophy which were both ranked 2nd in the country with the latter outperforming both the Universities of Oxford (3rd) and Cambridge (8th). English climbed an outstanding nine places to 6th in the country strengthened by a 94 per cent satisfaction rating for teaching in the National Student Survey (NSS) as well as achieving the 3rd highest score for graduate employment.

Modern Languages, classed as a Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subject by HEFCE, has moved up seven places to 5th in the country this year. The School, which teaches French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies as well as provides specialist language tuition through the Modern Language Centre, also offers students the chance to study abroad as part of their degree.

Other subject areas in the School to also enter the top 10 were Music (7th), History (10th) and Theology (8th).

Professor Simon Gaunt, Head of the School commented, 'the consistently outstanding quality of our programmes emerges very clearly from the Guardian University guide. Our rankings in the guide this year show prospective students unequivocally our strengths across the board in Arts and Humanities.'

The Guardian University Guide is currently the most popular league table and ranks subjects according to results from the NSS as well as staff-student ratios, university spend per student, entry UCAS scores of current students, graduate employment and a comparison of degree results with entry qualifications to determine the effectiveness of teaching.