Why Is Escape Studios Not in University Rankings?

You might find yourself looking at university rankings or league tables to help you choose the right university for you. However, not all Higher Education providers, Escape Studios among them, are included in league tables. So why are not all providers included in these rankings? And how can you judge whether Escape Studios is right for you? 

Not all Higher Education providers are universities 

To be a 'university', an institution must have what is known as ‘Degree Awarding Powers’. Many smaller institutions don’t have this power and instead work with a larger institution with Degree Awarding Powers to award have their degrees.  

This is why you’ll see on our website that our degrees are awarded by Coventry University. All our degrees are designed and developed by Escape Studios in collaboration with industry partners, taught by our tutors at our campus in North Greenwich. Since we do not have Degree Awarding Powers, Coventry University serves as the Awarding Body and officially endorses our undergraduate and postgraduate degree certificates, confirming their status as recognised qualifications. 

Since Degree Awarding Powers are a standard requirement for inclusion in most major league tables, smaller institutions are typically omitted, with only those granted Degree Awarding Powers and the right to use the title of ‘university’ being included. 

Offering a range of subjects 

Some league tables, including the Complete University Guide league tables, stipulate that a provider must offer courses from a range of subject areas to be included in the league tables. Due to the way that subjects are grouped together by these ranking tables, specialist institutions such as Escape Studios often don’t cover a wide enough range of subjects to be considered eligible for the main league table. 

How can I tell if Escape Studios is good if you aren’t in university league tables? 

There are alternative ways to assess whether an institution is the right fit for you, along with valuable information to evaluate its performance:

• Employability Data 

Recent data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency indicates that 85% of full-time undergraduate students from Escape Studios who graduated in 2021/2022 are employed, with 82% of those holding highly skilled graduate-level positions. (Source: Graduate Outcomes 2021/22 survey results published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA open data is published under the (CC BY 4.0) licence.) 

• Certifications 

Certifications and accolades highlight industry recognition for an institution. Not only do we have official certifications to teach top software such as Houdini, Unreal Engine, and Toon Boom Harmony, but we’re also approved and endorsed by TIGA, Animation Career Review and The Rookies! We’re also a member of Women in Games, Access VFX, UKIE, Screenskills and UK Screen Alliance. 

• Accolades 

We ranked 1^st in the world for Production Excellence in Immersive Media by The Rookies, as well as being in the top 5 creative schools in the UK! Other 2024 Rookies Rankings include:  

• Production Excellence in Immersive Media – 1^st in the world  

• Game Design & Development – 1^st in the UK, 21^st in the world  

• Production Excellence for Mobile Games –1^st in the UK, 3^rd in the world  

• Visual Effects – 2^nd in the UK, 15^th in the world 

We are also proudly ranked 3rd in the UK by Animation Career Review in their list of the Top 10 Animation Schools and Colleges. 

• Industry Partners 

Industry Partners demonstrate an institution’s credibility within the industry and are a form of endorsement. Our industry partners include Framestore, Creative Assembly, DNEG, Playground Games and BlueBolt. Find out more about our connections with the industry. 

• Alumni 

Be sure to check out the alumni, do their careers align with the course they studied? Are they working on cool projects? At Escape we have thousands of alumni (dubbed Escapees) at many of the world’s top VFX and games studios, behind Oscar and BAFTA-nominated films, including Dune, No Time To Die and The Lion King, and hundreds of award-winning films, commercials and video games.  Discover more alumni stories here. 

• Open Days 

This is an obvious one, but there really is no better way to discover if somewhere is the right fit than at an open day. You can get a feel for the campus, tutors and current students and ask any questions you may have. Check out our open day dates here. 

In summary university rankings and league tables aren’t the only marker of an institution's credibility and it’s important to look at the whole picture.