University of Exeter rises to 8th place in 'The Times' and 'The Sunday Times' League Table

Named The Sunday Times University of the Year in 2012, the University of Exeter has risen two places in this year's combined The Times and The Sunday Times League Table to 8th in the UK and second in the South West (after the University of Bath). Applications have jumped 19% in the last year at Exeter University, intensifying competition for places. One of four institutions to join the Russell Group of leading research universities last year, it is becoming established in the top ten in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table, thanks particularly to consistently high levels of student satisfaction, ranked 8th nationally, and a good performance in the Research Assessment Exercise.

Cambridge University comes out top overall in the UK, while the University of Bath was named the Best Campus University in Britain and the top university in the South West according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014. The Times and The Sunday Times have produced acclaimed, but separate, university guides since 1993 and 1998 respectively. This year, the new, combined Good University Guide will provide the most comprehensive guide to higher education in Britain in print and digital formats across The Times and The Sunday Times. The newspaper content will be published over the course of a week, beginning with a 56 page supplement free this weekend in The Sunday Times (September 22).

Bournemouth University is the biggest riser in the region, climbing 14 places in the league table nationally, to place it 6th in the South West. It has strengths in media subjects and boasts the National Centre of Computer animation. Every undergraduate honours-degree student is promised a work placement, typically 40 weeks.

Meanwhile the Arts University Bournemouth, which only gained a university title in the past year, makes its debut in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, ranked fourth in the region and 52= nationally. A low dropout rate and good graduate prospects (outstandingly so, for an arts specialist institution) ensured a strong performance in the league table.

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014 provides students and their parents with an invaluable first reference point on the path to finding a university place. It contains full profiles of all universities. The league table is drawn up from criteria including student satisfaction, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios, service and facilities spend, and university dropout rates.

In line with the release of The Good University Guide, The Sunday Times will also launch a competition giving current students the chance to win £5,000 towards their living expenses at university, as well as the opportunity for the winner to have their views on university life published in The Sunday Times.

Courtesy of The Times and The Sunday Times.