See how two quite different universities, Cambridge and City University London, trumpet their ‘Academic Excellence’. Both include a tab named Academic Excellence on their websites, interestingly in both cases, this falls under ‘undergraduate study’. Both include bullet points showing precisely measured standards of excellence:

Cambridge states that it is:

• Number three in the world, and awarded 5* for research, teaching and innovation in the QS World University Rankings 2013.
• 92 per cent of our students satisfied overall with the quality of their course in the National Student Survey 2013.
• Number one for well-structured courses and tuition in small classes in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2013.

City states that it is:

• Among the top 5% of universities in the world according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013/14
• Ranked 35th in the UK in The Guardian University Guide 2015
• Top 10 in the UK for graduate salaries according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide League Table 2014
• Top 10 in the UK for international students according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide League Table 2014
• Ranked 1st in London for business and management degrees and 4th in the UK according to The Guardian University Guide 2014
• We have 15 areas of academic activity where our research was assessed as being of a quality comparable with the very best in the world by the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
• 90% of students are satisfied with the quality of their education according to the 2013 National Student Survey.