Student Experience Survey 2017: best UK universities for student social life

View the overall results of the 2017 Student Experience Survey

University is not solely about lectures and seminars. A big part of the university experience is determined by the social life a student leads through nights out and joining in extracurricular activities and societies. 

Participants in the 2017 Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey were asked to provide a rating between “strongly agree” and “strongly disagree” on whether their university has: 

• Good social life 
• Good community atmosphere 
• Good extracurricular activities / societies 
• Good environment on campus / around university

The answers to these questions were then combined to give an overall rating of a university’s “societal experience”.  Some institutions, such as the Loughborough University – are heavily investing in their students’ unions to provide students with more to do in between studying. These include time-out workshops for students to practise mindfulness and manage their stress and anxiety and the building of a study hub.

Anna Goldman, a first-year French and Hispanic studies student, says that the city felt like home from the beginning and that the multiple sports opportunities greatly improved her confidence. Here more from her here. 

See the full results for societal experience below.

Rank	University name	Societal Experience Composite
1	Loughborough University	88.5
2	University of Sheffield	88.3
3	Newcastle University	88.1
4	Harper Adams University	87.9
5	University of Leeds	87.9
6	University of St Andrews	86.4
7	University of Oxford	86.3
8	University of Birmingham	86.3
9	University of Reading	86.2
9	Durham University	86.2
11	Keele University	86.1
12	University of Nottingham	86.1
13	University of East Anglia (UEA)	86.0
14	Cardiff University	85.2
15	Falmouth University	84.9
16	University of Dundee	84.5
17	University of Bath	84.5
18	Lancaster University	84.4
19	University of Glasgow	84.2
20	Queen’s University Belfast	84.1
21	University of Surrey	84.1
22	University of Manchester	83.9
23	University of Bristol	83.9
24	Bangor University	83.8
25	University of Exeter	83.8
26	Swansea University	83.6
27	University of Stirling	83.6
28	University of Chester	83.4
29	University of York	83.3
30	Aberystwyth University	83.1
31	Trent University	83.0
32	University of Liverpool	83.0
33	University of Southampton	82.8
34	York St John University	82.6
35	Edge Hill University	82.6
36	University of Lincoln	81.6
37	Royal Veterinary College	81.5
38	University of Portsmouth	81.5
39	Bournemouth University	81.3
40	University of Strathclyde	81.2
41	University of Warwick	81.1
42	University of Sussex	81.0
43	University of Edinburgh	80.7
44	University of Cambridge	80.6
45	Northumbria University	80.6
46	University of Leicester	80.5
47	University of Aberdeen	80.2
48	Heriot-Watt University	80.1
49	St George’s, University of London	79.9
50	Sheffield Hallam University	79.9
51	Robert Gordon University	79.8
52	University of Kent	79.7
53	Aston University	79.6
54	Brunel University London	79.3
55	University of Winchester	79.0
56	University of Worcester	79.0
57	University of Hull	78.9
58	University of the West of England	78.9
59	Plymouth University	78.6
60	De Montfort University	78.6
61	University of Essex	78.2
62	University of Central Lancashire	78.2
63	Coventry University	78.1
64	University of Gloucestershire	78.0
65	University of Derby	77.8
66	Manchester Metropolitan University	77.8
67	Queen Mary University of London	77.7
68	Bath Spa University	77.6
69	Cardiff Metropolitan University	77.4
70	Leeds Beckett University	77.3
71	Soas, University of London	77.3
72	Arts University Bournemouth	77.2
73	Oxford Brookes University	77.1
74	Teesside University	77.1
75	University College London (UCL)	76.8
76	Liverpool John Moores University	76.2
77	Liverpool Hope University	76.1
78	Canterbury Christ Church University	75.7
79	University of Huddersfield	75.7
80	Ulster University	75.6
81	Southampton Solent University	75.0
82	Royal Holloway, University of London	74.5
83	University of Salford	74.4
84	University of Brighton	74.0
85	Imperial College London	74.0
86	King’s College London	73.8
87	Glasgow Caledonian University	73.6
88	Goldsmiths, University of London	73.6
89	Edinburgh Napier University	73.2
89	University of Hertfordshire	73.2
91	Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh	73.2
92	University of Cumbria	72.6
93	Kingston University	72.6
94	Buckinghamshire New University	72.5
95	Newman  University	72.5
96	University of Bradford	72.4
97	Anglia Ruskin University	72.3
98	University of Roehampton	72.1
99	University of Northampton	70.3
100	University of Greenwich	70.2
101	University Campus Suffolk	70.2
102	University of Sunderland	70.1
103	Birmingham City University	70.0
104	Middlesex University	69.9
105	University of Wolverhampton	69.8
106	University of Wales Trinity Saint David	69.1
107	University of Bedfordshire	69.0
108	University of South Wales	68.5
109	Norwich University of the Arts	68.4
110	Abertay University	67.8
111	Staffordshire University	67.7
112	University of Westminster	67.6
113	University of East London	67.6
114	University of West London	66.1
115	University of the West of Scotland	65.5
116	London School of Economics and Political Science	64.2
117	University of the Arts London	63.5
118	London South Bank University	62.9
119	University for the Creative Arts	62.4
120	London Metropolitan University	62.4
121	City, University of London	61.7
122	The Open University	52.2

Read more:

THE Student Experience Survey 2017 results