Studying Hospitality Management – Choosing the best University in the UK.

The Best University to study Hospitality management or hotel management in the UK is the MYTH University!  (Meaning that there is no best University apart from the one that you consider to be the best).

I see so many top 3 Universities top 5 Universities top 10 Universities lists that my heart sinks simply because the very essence of trusting your decision on someone else’s rankings goes against the very notion of critical thinking that you are attempting to learn whilst studying for a University degree. 

Although there are plenty of rankings out there that can give you a good indication nothing beats visiting a University to get that gut feeling by walking the campus and talking to the lecturers and students.  Having said that I admit you do not have the time to visit ten or twenty Universities so narrowing down your options is what this guide will try to do, starting with the very thing I said I dislike... ranking guides:

Ranking Guides:

The Guardian,  The independent and  The Times, all publish their own ranking guides but there are two things to consider.  Firstly each uses its own unique methodology and you may find that one papers top University is the next papers third.  Secondly there is no ranking that looks at hospitality removed from other subjects.  Hospitality is grouped with Tourism, and Leisure and sometimes even Sport so you can find the top University of one ranking actually has no Hospitality related degree in their offerings. A better guide in my opinion is the http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/ which has a relatively good league table by subject.  My suggestion is to take a look at previous years and look for consistency at the top 20 institutions after you have removed those that do not offer a hospitality degree. There is nothing wrong with Universities celebrating a good ranking position but you need to dig much deeper than that.

Teaching Quality:

I believe that there is only one way to judge this, and that is past student experience (as well as current students not hired for the open days -although the ones in open days tend to be trustworthy you want to ensure you avoid bias)! You can look for testimonials in various sites and forums such as http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk but remember that one person’s heaven is another person’s hell so take any comments with a pinch of salt.  

 Teaching Resources:

This is something you can only really get a good feel from visiting a University.  Check the library and specifically go to their hospitality section! An impressive University Library may still hide a weak subject section.  Also what about computer facilities?  Is there Wi-Fi in the library, and coffee shops? Are there areas where you can meet with your friends to work on group projects? What is the teacher to student ratio? These are only a few of the questions you should be asking when visiting during an open day.

Access to experts:

Here is the killer question… if you study at University X will you get a chance to be taught by “Professor Xavier” (excuse the X men reference) or will you be getting the teaching from his PhD students? Do not get me wrong I remember being taught by an amazing PhD student but then again I remember being taught by a terrible PhD student. I also recall been very lucky to be taught by a couple of excellent professors whose experience really made even the simplest of lessons highly entertaining and very inspiring.

Admin Support:

Do not underestimate the power of knowledgeable and helpful administrative employees.  They can make all the difference for your experience so when visiting a University ask about the average years of service of the admin staff. This should give you a good indicator of their experience, as well as how good the place is to work, a happy place can make all the difference.

Size of the classes and entry requirements:

Get the good news and the bad news so that you are fully informed! Some places may say their classes are small but then you find that for certain modules you may join other courses and end up in a class of 300!  Hopefully you will then get smaller tutorials.  Entry requirements may give you an idea of how motivated your other colleagues may be, although in my experience I have seen students with great entry qualifications do far worse than others who had not so great entry qualifications so although it is all relative it still give you a hint as to what you are likely to expect.

Career opportunities and Industry Links:

Ask about the placement opportunities even if you do not intend to go on one.  Also ask about the % of employment of graduates within 6 months of graduation. It is most important that you check about the University links with industry and how they ensure students network with professionals. Ask about the opportunities for part time work and if they help or promote it.  If you have the opportunity to talk to a few hospitality professionals ask them if they would consider hiring someone from the University of your choice. 

Research and teaching:

Ask for examples of when recent research and consultancy was implemented in the curriculum.  Sometimes the greatest of research never finds its way into the classroom so it is important you understand and feel comfortable that the research undertaken at your university of choice informs the learning and teaching.

Location:

For me this is of huge importance since you will be spending 3 to 4 years of your life and if you are not happy with where you are your studies will suffer!  Each location has its advantages and disadvantages. You will need to balance what you would like to get with what you can afford.  Anything near London is a great choice as it offers great opportunities for networking and some great hotel and restaurant visits but the cost of living in London can be prohibitive.  Also if you are not used to the life and culture of a Mega City you could be in for a major culture shock!   I still recall my first day in London many years ago getting momentarily disoriented inside the Hyde Park corner underground station.  For a little more safety and serenity (and mainly because I am an islander) I prefer the South close to the sea.

Finally your Gut feeling!

Never underestimate the power of your gut feeling when you visit a place.  If they try hard to sell you a place or if they speak bad about another University or College these are for me indicators for a place that I would avoid. Look at the tutor body language, are they happy they are there explaining things to you or do they seem very bored and would rather be somewhere else? Your gut feeling receives hints and information from very tangible evidence, so trust it!


Edit: 
I have just realised that I left financing out of my list... after so many years I forgot the financial struggles students face, so another point you would wish to examine would be scholarship opportunities.

So you may wish to check jobs.ac.uk for scholarships and http://www.educationuk.org/scholarships as well as http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk

Also  here you will find Masters scholarships for the New MSc Food Services and Wellbeing Management, at the University of Brigton. anyone else that may have inside information on hospitality related scholarships please post them in the comments section to help out students as much as possible.

Thank you
Ioannis