York’s History department has been ranked worst in the country for teaching hours 
according to government figures.
The new statistics available on government website Unistats has revealed that York History students spend only 8% of their degree in seminars and lectures, a mere 96 hours a year. In comparison with students at Northampton, a University which charges it students £500 less a year in fees, who were ranked top with contact hours making up 31% of the course, equating to 372 hours a year.
York was also well adrift of the University in second to last place, Royal Holloway, who’s course consists of 144 hours a year, making up 12%.
The University fared little better in Physics, ranking joint third bottom with Northumbria on 276 hours, 23% of the degree. York was just 2% off the bottom in Physics hours and 20% behind top of the table, Imperial College.
This news has been met with much criticism from experts who feel that many students may not be getting adequate value for money in terms of the teaching hours provided by the University.
One second year History student told Vision: “Now that students are paying £9000 pounds a year it’s really disappointing to discover that York has the lowest contact hours in the country for my subject. Considering York is an extremely historical city and boasts some impressive staff members in the department, I am surprised to discover how little the department actually provides”.
Another History student, first year Jono Butler, took a very different view, saying: “To be fair it is a bit of a joke, but it makes for some decent nights out.”
However, the University’s History department has disputed these figures, claiming that it offers one to one drop in sessions and supervision for dissertations which the statistics do not reflect.