So many ranking systems, so many… well, rankings. Which ones matter most?

The Telegraph reports:

How to read the different university rankings

University rankings have always proved popular. Both among prospective and current students – not to mention the university alumni who happily share new tables should their university be doing well. There is nothing like a successful ranking to bring out loyalty to an institution.

However, with so many rankings out there, how on earth are you supposed to choose which one to use? For alumni, the answer is simple – clearly the ranking that displays the most favourable result for your alma mater. But for prospective students, the answer is slightly harder to answer.

To help out, we’ve compiled a list of just some of the many rankings out there, in an attempt to give you a bit of background information. Luckily, many of the rankings actually cover different areas; for example, if you were looking to find out about student satisfaction, the National Student Survey would be the best place to look.

However, if you wanted to find out about how universities are viewed, the Times Higher Education Reputation Rankings would be a good starting point.

QS World University Rankings is published by British Quacquarelli Symonds annually in September. First compiled in 2004, it assesses 3,000 universities and gives individual positions to the top 400. After this, universities are placed within a group, starting from 401-410, up to 701+.