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UK universities that stand out for the right reasons – rankings

Study International Staff

25 Apr 2018

No matter what you look for in a university, here are the best in the UK for each criteria. Source: Shutterstock

The winners of The Guardian University Awards 2018 were announced this week, showcasing the very best of what the UK has to offer in terms of equality, employability, curriculum design and much more.

The awards are given out on an annual basis to recognise the most innovative universities in the UK in ways typical rankings just don’t showcase.

So, no matter what attracts you to a university, you’re likely to find it below. Here are the universities topping the UK charts in a range of criteria. Here are the results in full:

Category	Winner	Runner(s)-up
Advancing staff equality	University of Strathclyde	Glasgow Caledonian University University of Sheffield
Buildings that inspire	University of Hull	Newcastle University Norwich University of the Arts
Business collaboration	Heriot-Watt University	University of Kent University of Lincoln
Course and curriculum design	University of Huddersfield	University of Salford University of the West of Scotland
Digital innovation	Open University	Imperial College London University of Greenwich
Employability and entrepreneurship	Falmouth University	Sheffield Business School The Royal Agricultural University
Internationalisation	University of Central Lancashire	Birmingham City University The University of Nottingham
Marketing and comms campaign	London School of Economics and Political Science	De Montfort University Leicester Loughborough University
Research impact	University of Exeter	Heriot-Watt University University of Glasgow
Retention, support and student outcomes	University of Strathclyde	Solent University York St John University
Social and community impact	Swansea University	De Montfort University Leicester University of Manchester University of Sheffield
Student experience	University of Surrey	University of Stirling York St John University
Sustainability project	University of Plymouth	University of Manchester
Teaching excellence	Open University	Coventry University University of Surrey
Widening access and outreach	Birkbeck, University of London	Nottingham Trent University University of Sunderland
Inspiring leader award	Mary Stuart, Vice-Chancellor, University of Lincoln

The Guardian added new categories this year, including ‘widening access and outreach’ and ‘course and curriculum design’, in order to keep up with the rapidly-evolving world of higher education.

The social and community impact category received the most submissions this year and was won by Swansea which helped out local National Health Services (NHS) by running an open clinic maintained by students and staff.

The employability and entrepreneurship categories were merged together this year to test how universities marry the two – educating and encouraging students to find suitable employment or to create it for themselves. Falmouth University came in first place with a photography agency set up by students which allows students to gain valuable experience working with real clients, including Sony.

You can read the full details of the universities’ projects in The Guardian’s ideas bank.

Are there any other factors you think should be considered when picking a university? Let us know at editor@hybrid.co or tweet us at @Study_INTNL