Hey there!

I know many of you loveeee university rankings so check this out if you need some help deciding which uni to attend or if you are just curious.

Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009
(General ranking - all subjects)
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/Rankings2009-Top200.html

Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009
(Social Sciences ranking)
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/Rankings2009-Top50-SocialSci.html

Times Online Good University Guide 2010
(General ranking/Only UK unis):
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php

Times Online Good University Guide 2010
(LAW ranking/Only UK unis):
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Law

hi, why aberdeen law school rank so high? can anyone explain?

an anomalous result. please ignore :P

Scotland has a very long scholarly tradition. I suppose this explains why, as a relatively small nation, it has produced an impressive array of thinkers and scientists from Adam Smith and James Watt (if we do not want to go back any earlier) onwards (though born in England, Charles Darwin also studied at Edinburgh). I do not think it is anomalous for a law school that has taught law for several hundred years to be ranked high.

Aberdeen has a really good law school, so it's not surprising to see it up there. But that said, do take these rankings with a pinch of salt.

Eg. look at the Graduate Prospects category in the top 20 law schools listed in the Time Good University Guide. After Cambridge, Aberdeen has the best graduate prospects than any other top 20 law school. Frankly, while Aberdeen grads will undoubtedly do well, it's unlikely that have better prospects than say Oxford, LSE, KCL, UCL etc. Another example to not take much notice of is 'Student Satisfaction', which is based the National Student Survey (many universities urge students to give high scores on this survey, and entice them to complete it with prize draws for Ipods etc).

Aberdeen has a really good law school, so it's not surprising to see it up there. But that said, do take these rankings with a pinch of salt.

Eg. look at the Graduate Prospects category in the top 20 law schools listed in the Time Good University Guide. After Cambridge, Aberdeen has the best graduate prospects than any other top 20 law school. Frankly, while Aberdeen grads will undoubtedly do well, it's unlikely that have better prospects than say Oxford, LSE, KCL, UCL etc. Another example to not take much notice of is 'Student Satisfaction', which is based the National Student Survey (many universities urge students to give high scores on this survey, and entice them to complete it with prize draws for Ipods etc).

How about Edinburgh though? Surely that is producing better quality grad prospects than Aberdeen.

I am a current LLM student at Aberdeen, and I can tell you that the law that is taught is that which is relevant to the area of study (i.e. not necessarily Scottish law (per se)).

I think the real reason for Aberdeen's high rankings is because it offers very practical programs. These programs actually teach substantive knowledge that is invaluable when you get out in the real world and put what you've learned into practice.