St Andrews '˜offers best student experience in Scotland'

With its medieval street layout, golden sands, ruined castle and world famous golf course, St Andrews already has a lot to boast about.

Students from the University of St Andrews take a walk along the town's harbour while wearing their famous red gowns. Picture: Jane Barlow/TSPL

Now the Fife town’s ancient university has been found to offer ‘the best student experience in Scotland’ for the second year running.

A leading education industry survey ranked the University of St Andrews highly for its “extracurricular activities, campus environment and community atmosphere”.

Scotland has four universities in the UK top 40, with University of St Andrews joint 13th (up one place on last year), University of Dundee joint 15th (up 6 places), the University of Stirling 32nd and the University of Glasgow 34th.

The world famous Old Course is just one of the attractions in St Andrews. Picture Ian Rutherford/TSPL

Stirling has improved dramatically this year, climbing 26 places to 32nd.

Scotland has three universities entering the top 40 for the first time, University of Stirling 32nd, Heriot-Watt University 33rd and University of Glasgow 34th.

The UK Student Experience Survey, compiled by Times Higher Education, is based on feedback from more than 15,000 students across the country.

The ranking found Harper Adams University in Shropshire offers the best UK student experience. It only gained full university status four years ago and has beaten off competition from more than 120 institutions.

The ruined St Andrews Castle was once the stronghold of the bishops of St Andrews. Picture: Neil Hanna/TSPL

John Gill, editor of Times Higher Education, said: “It is notable that our league table is topped by a specialist institution with among the best track records for industry links and employability.

“Our survey tracks student attitudes across 22 criteria, but there’s no doubt that students put enormous stock on their future career prospects in this era of high tuition fees. One of the other notable findings, which reflects a longstanding trend, is that London institutions consistently perform among the worst in the country for the student experience.”