How NZ unis rate compared to UK

By SIMON COLLINS

The controversial new academic grading system places New Zealand's established universities somewhere in the middle ranks of British universities.

The system, unveiled prematurely in a 300-page report issued late on Thursday, shows that only 5.7 per cent of New Zealand's 8000 academics rated A grades indicating "world-class" research.

By contrast, 19 per cent of the British academics who were chosen by their institutions to have their research assessed in 2001 worked in departments labelled 5*, where more than half of the assessed research was at "levels of international excellence".

A-graded academics in New Zealand ranged from just 0.9 per cent of all staff in the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) to between 3 and 9 per cent for all other universities and 10.8 per cent for Auckland University.

British universities established before 1992 spanned an even wider range. At the bottom end, six had no researchers at all in 5* departments, and at the top end, 70 per cent of Cambridge's total staff worked in 5* research environments.

Twenty-six of the 51 established British universities, including the leading colleges of London University, had 11 per cent or more of their total academic staff working in 5* departments, suggesting that Auckland might have come in about the middle of the British table.

But the two systems are not directly comparable because the British calculations are based on the overall research portfolio of each department.

A department could have a 5* ranking based on the selective research submitted for assessment, even if only some of its academics are actually doing world-class research.

If, on average, the proportion of academics in 5* British departments was scaled down by half to equate with the individuals who would have got A grades in New Zealand, then Auckland would be placed 15th in Britain, just behind Edinburgh and ahead of 36 others including Scotland's oldest university, St Andrews.

All other New Zealand universities except AUT would come in the middle ranks of the British list.

The Tertiary Education Commission was forced to delete a comparison with British universities from its report after Auckland and Victoria Universities asked the High Court to intervene.

Justice Hugh Williams ordered the commission to consult the universities before deciding what to publish.

The report shows that 23.2 per cent of New Zealand academics do research graded B, which is described as "very good quality".

Another 31.2 per cent do C grade research, classed as "good quality".

The other 39.9 per cent of academics in all eight universities, four colleges of education, two polytechnics, one wananga and seven private training establishments either did not submit any research for assessment or, in a few cases, were judged to have done research below C level.

Mid Rankings

* Only 5.7 per cent of New Zealand academics produce research graded A or "world-class".

* 19 per cent of British academics who chose to be included in the last assessment of UK universities worked in 5* ("international excellence") departments.

* These numbers are not directly comparable because the two systems are different.