A SCOTTISH university has taken the top spot in a national league table, beating Oxford and Cambridge.
The University of St Andrews has been placed higher than the elite Oxbridge institutions for only the second time in the 30-year history of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide.
The rankings show that Oxford fell from first to second place with Cambridge remaining in third place.
The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 said St Andrews won due to improved results in graduate prospects and its student-to-staff ratio (11.9 to one).
The university’s high proportion of students gaining first and 2:1 degrees, as well as high Ucas entry standards, also helped it top the league table.
Helen Davies, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “The higher education landscape has never been tougher.
“It is more competitive to get a place at many of our top institutions; the cost of attending university has soared, leaving graduates with extraordinary debt; and in many cases campus life still bears the scars of the pandemic. Meanwhile lecturers are on strike and the marking crisis is a running scandal.
“It means any prospective student, parent or carer needs to think hard about whether university is the right choice, and then where to study and what subject.”
The rankings can be found here and the full results will also be published in the 96-page guide on Sunday.
