Research reveals the courses and cities that students are happiest in
When it comes to choosing a university course, most people make their decision based on their grades and what they think will grant them the most success in life. But sometimes, your happiness on your course can come as an afterthought.
With this in mind, Vita Student have analysed some research and pulled together a list of the UK’s happiest university courses , to help you find the right one.
Our findings showed the degree topping the list was Veterinary Medicine & Dentistry, with students giving the course a huge 92% satisfaction rate in the National Student Survey 2021.
So, what about this degree is making students so happy?
Firstly, the overwhelming response was that the course is intellectually stimulating (as voted by 98% of students), and secondly because of its excellent overall teaching quality (94%).
Nutrition & Dietetics, Earth Sciences, Physiotherapy and Geography courses also ranked highly and made it into the top 10 happiest university degree courses in the UK in 2021. Here’s the full list:
1. Veterinary Medicine & Dentistry (92.4% satisfaction)
2. Nutrition and Dietetics (84.8%)
3. Earth Sciences (84.5%)
4. Chemistry (84.1%)
5. Statistics (83.0%)
6. Medicine (82.7%)
7. Geography (82.3%)
8. Physiotherapy (82.2%)
9. Dentistry (81.8%)
10. Classics (81.7%)
*Top ten courses ranked by the extent to which each student feels satisfied with the quality of their course.
Many courses rose dramatically in the happiness ranks through 2020 into 2021, even with the affect that the pandemic had on university studies and student life.
Naval architecture rose a massive 117 places, and courses like Food and Beverage Studies, Bioengineering, Medical and Biomedical Engineering also saw more happy students than ever.
However, some courses that you mightn’t have even known existed showed to have some of the happiest students in the country.
For example, American & Australasian Studies, Forestry and Arboriculture and Landscape Design proved to be some of the most satisfactory courses out there.
But it isn’t always the course that determines a student’s happiness. City can play a huge role in how you experience at university goes too. Cities such as Glasgow, York, Liverpool and Leeds were found to be some of the best places to live to stay happy during your studies.
Students in other higher education courses, like diplomas or foundation degrees, also took part in the survey on course satisfaction. The top 10 happiest higher education courses in the UK were:
1. Business & Management (100% satisfaction)
2. Microbiology & Cell Science (96.8%)
3. Electrical & Eletronic Engineering (96.5%)
4. Economics (92.6%)
5. Veterinary Medicine & Dentistry (92.4%)
6. Physical Science (91.7%)
7. Management Studies (91.2%)
8. Civil Engineering (90.8%)
9. Business Studies (89.4%)
10. Engineering (89.1%)
So if you’re still deciding what course you’re going to study, and where, why not prioritise your happiness?
