As somebody who works in the university with what is apparently the worst quality of life in the UK, I found the survey bizarre. What was the relative weighting of the various indicators?
Was traffic flow equivalent to, or more important than, owner occupation rate, for example? Why were other clearly important factors not included, such as the quality of the campus and buildings, or the nature of a city or town's cultural life? How wide was the survey of crime and GCSE results?
I live a 25-minute train journey from the city centre in a village on the edge of the Peak District with excellent schools and a very low crime rate. The only thing I can congratulate the survey on is that it proves that there are 31 UK universities with less sunshine per year than Manchester Metropolitan.
David Huxley, Manchester School of Art Manchester Metropolitan University.