Page 24 - ELG2109 Sep Issue 477

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UK RANKINGS 2021-22

The university rankings

How does higher education fit into the scheme of things?

Melanie Butler takes a look

niversity language centres have long been one of the top
two performing accredited sectors based on their British
Council inspection reports, with 50% featuring in our
Ucurrent top 100.
However, during Covid, six universities dropped off the British
Council accreditation list, a reduction of 15%, the highest rate for
any sector except year-round private language schools. Unlike those, PHOTO BY GRAHAM HODGSON FROM PIXABAY
however, not one of these universities has closed, they have simply
chosen to leave the scheme.
Among the university centres which have opted out of accreditation
are four which have appeared high in the EL Gazette rankings:
Liverpool, which ranked second in our university charts, UCL London,
Northumbria and UAL.
The list highlights not only the famous names that have gone – two
Russell Group universities – but also the strength of the university
language centre sector across a wide range of university types.
The British tend to rank their universities according to their age.
And, as with houses and furniture, the older something is the better.
Associations
History lessons Probably not, is the answer. Some universities had EFL-specific
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, only two universities – Oxford accreditation even before the 2004 launch of English UK, the
and Cambridge – were allowed to exist before the 19th century and only association formed by a merger between two associations. One grew
students belonging to the Church of England were allowed to enrol. out of the language school industry, the other represented state sector
The Scots, by contrast, have four ancient universities, or five if we colleges. The dream was for the UK ELT industry to form a united
count Dundee, which was originally the medical school of the ancient front against growing international competition.
university of St Andrews. But all thought of cross-sector solidarity went out the window when
In the 19th century, the Covid hit. Press coverage has focused entirely on the plight of language
demand for more universities Britain has seen schools. In perhaps the most egregious example, a recent article in
which admitted students from the Times Higher Education trade paper pleaded with the readership to
other churches and classes led to successive waves of help protect the 415 language schools. It failed to point out, as we do
the founding of the University on page 12, that of those 415 language centres, 88 were not language
of London in 1832, with King’s universities all with schools and 36 were university centres.
College London as a founder different histories Some academics have long been concerned that the inspection
college. Wales, like London, criteria are designed for private language schools and don’t fit the
chose a federal university and purposes university environment, where the most pressing need for international
structure and opened the undergraduates is to master reading and writing academic English.
principality’s first college,now Guidance requiring new lexis be written on the board in IPA is not
Aberystwyth University, in 1872. only a low priority for these students, it is also contra to the research
During this period there was a rush among England’s great towns to from those same universities which shows that to improve students’
create universities out of their old institutions of learning, which had comprehension, it is suprasegmentals you need to focus on.
previously catered to local students. Sheffield, Leicester, Manchester None of these things alone are responsible for the Covid-driven
(and its neighbour Salford) are all what the English call ‘redbrick’ exit of university language centres. That probably had more to do
universities, named after the Victorian buildings they were housed in. with the need to cut unnecessary costs. Because, for universities,
In the 60s, a new generation of universities appeared, like Brunel, accreditation is an optional extra, not a necessity. Unless the cross-
that focused on emerging and exciting subjects like technology and sectoral accreditation scheme pays more attention to all the sectors,
sociology. They’re called ‘the plate-glass universities’ after, inevitably, more universities are likely to opt out.
the style of their buildings.
In 1992 the latest wave of universities began, as the Government Top accredited university
began to award university status to the polytechnics which, like Sheffield language centres
Hallam and Brighton, had always been popular for their more vocational
degrees, covering areas like architecture, accountancy and law. Out of 36 accredited university language centres, 12 score
More recently, university status has been awarded to former colleges within four points of each other. However, some universities
like Edge Hill and Chichester, which have long been famed for their do not admit under 18s and so are inspected on 14 rather than
teacher training and are often described as ‘teaching universities’ to 15 areas of strength, putting their score slightly higher.
show they focus on the educational outcomes of their students rather 13/14 Manchester
than just research. 12/15 Edge Hill, Sheffield
Britain has seen successive waves of universities all with different 11/14 Brighton, Leicester
histories and purposes. You will see, if you check out our top university 11/15 King’s College London, Salford
performers box (right), every type is represented in our university 10/14 Chichester, Dundee, Sheffield Hallam
10/15 Aberystwyth, Brunel, Leeds, Manchester
language centre rankings. Metropolitan, Teeside
But will they still all be there next year?
24 September 2021