Gold and silver for Aberystwyth at Whatuni student choice awards 2020

14 July 2020

Aberystwyth University has been awarded gold and silver in three of the main accolades in the 2020 Whatuni Student Choice Awards.

Aberystwyth scooped gold in the Postgraduate category for a third consecutive year.  It also came top in the International category, after two years in second place. Aberystwyth also picked up a silver award in the University of the Year category, which encompasses reviews from every aspect of the student experience.

Now in their seventh year, the Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCA) are an annual celebration of the best universities and higher education institutions in the UK. The results for the main categories are compiled from over 41,000 student reviews from 150 institutions.

Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect which owns Whatuni, said: “This year, high average review scores across all WUSCA categories demonstrate a widespread effort from UK institutions to both listen and respond to the needs of students.

“With the recent challenges facing the sector, to have obtained such high reports of satisfaction across all universities, including those outside of The Russell Group in key categories like Course and Lecturers, is a credit to the value and outstanding experience students feel they are receiving in their higher education. This is something the sector should be incredibly proud of achieving and these outstanding results would be welcomed in many other sectors during this difficult time.”

Professor Tim Woods, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Learning, Teaching & Student Experience at Aberystwyth University, said: “Aberystwyth University prides itself on its excellent student experience, high quality teaching, and outstanding quality of life, and we are delighted that this has been recognised by the latest reviews and feedback gathered from our students by the Whatuni team.”

In the latest National Student Survey (NSS 2019), Aberystwyth was the top university in England and Wales, and second in the UK for overall student satisfaction.  As well as a top achiever in the NSS, Aberystwyth University also holds a Gold award in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).  It was named Welsh University of the Year in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide2020, having been named the UK’s University of the Year for Teaching Quality in 2018 and 2019.