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University rankings: do they matter in the UK?

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  • Stijn Broecke

Abstract

This paper offers the first comprehensive analysis of the effect of changes in university rankings on applicant and institution behaviour in the UK. When their rank worsens, universities are found to experience small but statistically significant reductions in the number of applications received as well as in the average tariff score of applicants and accepted applicants. Although the effects found are stronger for certain types of students and institutions, they tend to be modest overall, and suggest that other factors play a more important role in attracting applicants to universities.

Suggested Citation

  • Stijn Broecke, 2015. "University rankings: do they matter in the UK?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 137-161, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:23:y:2015:i:2:p:137-161
    DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2012.729328
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    2. Gibbons, Stephen & Neumayer, Eric & Perkins, Richard, 2015. "Student satisfaction, league tables and university applications: Evidence from Britain," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 148-164.
    3. Mira Fischer & Patrick Kampkötter, 2017. "Effects of German Universities' Excellence Initiative on Ability Sorting of Students and Perceptions of Educational Quality," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 173(4), pages 662-687, December.
    4. Augusto Cerqua & Giorgio Di Pietro, 2017. "Natural disasters and university enrolment: evidence from L’Aquila earthquake," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(14), pages 1440-1457, March.
    5. Rhys J. Williams, 2022. "The effect of casual teaching on student satisfaction: evidence from the UK," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 91-111, January.
    6. Stephen Gibbons & Eric Neumayer & Richard Perkins, 2013. "Student Satisfaction, League Tables and University Applications," SERC Discussion Papers 0142, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Biancardi, Daniele & Bratti, Massimiliano, 2018. "The Effect of the First Italian Research Evaluation Exercise on Student Enrolment Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 11302, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Nifo, Annamaria & Scalera, Domenico & Vecchione, Gaetano, 2016. "What do you want to be when you grow up? Local institutional quality and the choice of the fields of study in Italy (2004-2007)," MPRA Paper 69907, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Liu, Tianze & Meng, Meng, 2024. "You Are the Elite Now: Admission Effects of an Excellence Initiative in the Chinese Higher Education System," SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics 5/2024, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    10. Mehmet Pinar, 2023. "Do research performances of universities and disciplines in England converge or diverge? An assessment of the progress between research excellence frameworks in 2014 and 2021," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(10), pages 5731-5766, October.
    11. Daniel Weimar & Markus Schauberger, 2018. "The impact of sporting success on student enrollment," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(6), pages 731-764, August.
    12. Nadia Siddiqui & Vikki Boliver & Stephen Gorard, 2019. "Reliability of Longitudinal Social Surveys of Access to Higher Education: The Case of Next Steps in England," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 80-89.
    13. Biancardi, Daniele & Bratti, Massimiliano, 2019. "The effect of introducing a Research Evaluation Exercise on student enrolment: Evidence from Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 73-93.

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