The recent publication of the annual Sunday Times League Table proved that Trinity College still has what it takes to make it the most prestigious university in Ireland, winning the coveted top spot in the League for the sixth year running.
The recent publication of the annual Sunday Times League Table proved that Trinity College still has what it takes to make it the most prestigious university in Ireland, winning the coveted top spot in the League for the sixth year running.
The recent publication of the annual Sunday Times League Table proved that Trinity College still has what it takes to make it the most prestigious university in Ireland, winning the coveted top spot in the League for the sixth year running. Yet while Trinity sailed to the top of the list, this years title of ‘Irish University of the Year’, which Trinity won last year, went to NUI Maynooth. Despite winning first position in the league table, Trinity students received the third highest grades in the country when graduating.
Trinity has a long history with the Sunday Times League Table. The table, which assesses various aspects of the college from exam results to staff-student ratios, employment prospects post-graduation to completion rates, is seen as a fair comparator of universities. This is the sixth consecutive year for Trinity to achieve the top spot on the League table and in 2007, Trinity was named “Irish University of the Year”.
Yet Trinity’s academic record is diminishing, ranking a disappointing 3rd place with regard to academic results. In 2007, 71% of University College Cork graduates achieved a first or 2.1 compared to Trinity’s 67%. With Trinity having some of the highest entry requirements and students achieving an average of over 80% across six leaving cert subjects, it is left to question why Trinity failed to grab the top spot academically. Senior Lecturer Dr. Aileen Douglas believes the emphasis would be better placed focusing on the international standing of a Trinity degree, referring to the recent publication of the Times Higher Education Supplement League Table. In this table, the College received 49th place, a first for any Irish university.
NUI Maynooth meanwhile is rapidly catching up with the other big universities in Ireland. According to Ian Coxon, Editor of the Sunday Times, Maynooth was a deserving winner of the prestigious title of “The Sunday Times University of the Year for 2008”. He believes “Maynooth’s excellent results on research funding and graduate employment” were key factors that led to the accolade.
Maynooth has seen one of the greatest expansions of any Irish university, becoming one of the top 4 universities in Ireland after only 11 years in existence. While it scored well in all areas of the league, unsurprisingly it scored particularly high in the area of research. With students receiving over €128,000 each per year in grants for funding, Maynooth is seen as the centre of research study in Ireland. This acknowledgment as the hub of research has been mainly attributed to the university’s affiliations to over 50 Multi National Companies. The college boasts an impressive near hundred percent employment record for graduating students. Maynooth was also the first global education partner for the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer, Intel. Such unique and specialist IT training programmes cannot but guarantee direct employment in the ever growing IT sector. With Irelands long standing reputation in the IT world, as long as the IT sector continues to grow, Maynooth University should continue to grow and expand with it.
Internationally, Trinity College was the only Irish university to place within the top 100 Universities in the world. Its closest competitor was UCD, who ranked in at 108. Having scored an impressive 53rd place last year, the College moved four places up to move it into the top 50 universities worldwide. Helen Kelly from the International Students Office is adamant that this new placement will give the college a much needed advantage over other European and worldwide universities in the competitive environment that is education. “This achievement is significant not only in terms of attracting the highest calibre of international students but also in relation to developing collaborative partnerships with other leading international institutions”. It looks as though this new placement will serve to allow Trinity to continue to welcome not only Ireland’s, but the world’s most academically talented students.
