Harper Adams University has been ranked number one in the world for reputation among agriculture and forestry employers, after four years in second place.
Global business feedback has helped the Shropshire-based university top the QS World University Rankings for Employer Reputation.
According to higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Harper Adams University stands out as a leading institution for its specialist subject base.
The ranking examines the performance of more than 15,200 individual university programs around the world.
Institutions are reviewed across 51 different academic disciplines – with comparative performance data provided across a range of measures.
Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President of QS, said, “Observing performance trends across more than 15,000 university departments allows us to see what factors influence success.
“An international perspective – both in terms of faculty and research relationships – is strongly correlated with improved performance.
“Rising universities have received targeted investments from governments for more than a decade. Finally, stronger relationships with industry are correlated with better employment, research and innovation outcomes.
Harper Adams saw further improvement this year in metrics covering the academic and research citation categories, as well as the metric covering its reputation with employers in its specialist subject base.
This Employer Reputation Indicator is based on responses from tens of thousands of graduate employers worldwide.
For this year’s survey, corporate employers around the world were asked to identify which institutions they considered ‘excellent’ for recruiting graduates – and which disciplines they prefer to recruit from.
Their selections have been used by analysts to infer an institution’s measure of excellence in a given discipline.
Harper Adams Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan responded to the ranking: “Our courses are co-developed with industry partners.
“Our students are engaged throughout their studies with the real-world challenges and opportunities facing industry partners.
“That’s why many of our graduates go on to leadership roles in a wide range of organizations.”
