UCC Ranked in Europe’s Top 50 for Teaching Excellence

8 Jul 2019

UCC has been named one of the top 50 universities for teaching and learning.

UCC is ranked 48th in the Times Higher Education (THE) Europe Teaching Rankings 2019, ahead of the University of Limerick and NUIG.

THE’s Europe Teaching Ranking is focused on higher education institutions’ teaching and learning environments for students.

Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer, THE said: “Teaching is the raison d’etre of any university, so THE is delighted to have developed this pioneering analysis of universities’ teaching performance that transcends national borders. At the heart of the research is a survey of 125,000 students across Europe – so the results are to a large extent based on what students themselves report about their own learning experiences.”

One of the key components of the ranking was THE's European Student Survey, taken by university students in 18 countries across Europe. Students rated their university on a scale of zero to 10 across aspects of their university life, including collaborative learning, critical thinking and application of learning to the real world. 

“I am delighted that UCC is one of the top 50 of universities in Europe for teaching.  This ranking reflects the importance UCC as an institution places on learning and the student experience, and the excellent feedback from our students in the survey," said Professor Paul McSweeney, Vice President for Learning and Teaching, UCC.

The metrics, which focus on the student teaching and learning environment and student outcomes, have been designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families when making one of the most important decisions of their lives – who to trust with their education.

The performance indicators are grouped into four key areas:

Engagement – does the institution effectively engage with its students?
Resources – does the institution have the capacity to effectively deliver teaching?
Outcomes – does the institution generate appropriate outputs for students?
Environment – is the teaching and learning environment inclusive? 

Overall, 258 universities across 18 countries feature in the ranking, up from 242 institutions across eight nations last year.

Universities in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia feature for the first time.