Bristol has been named as one of the best universities in the South West for the second year in a row.
Freshers starting at the University of Bristol next week can be reassured of their choice, after it kept its third-place regional position in a prestigious ranking.
The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021 has revealed its pick of the top institutions this year, and will publish the full results this weekend (September 20) in the Sunday Times.
University of Bath sits in ninth place nationally and claimed the top position in the South West, followed by Exeter and then Bristol.
Regionally, the top three this year exactly mirror the results from last year.
The University of the West of England (UWE) also sits in the same spot as last year, coming in at number five in the South West.
UWE's national ranking is also the same, at number 58, but Bristol has climbed slightly - 13th best in the UK this year, up from 15th in 2019.
Bristol was trumped by UWE in the category of student satisfaction, however, with 83 per cent satisfaction compared to 75 per cent.
This was the second-highest proportion regionally, just after Arts at Bournemouth.
The top 10 in the South West were:
- Bath
- Exeter
- Bristol
- Arts at University of Bournemouth
- UWE
- Plymouth
- Bournemouth
- Royal Agricultural University
- Falmouth
- Bath Spa
The league table factors in nine indicators including students' view on teaching quality and their wider student experience, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student and staff ratios, service and facilities spend, and degree completion rates.
A social inclusion ranking rates universities on key measures to reflect the diversity of their intake and subsequent success when attending university.
The Guide is a free 96-page supplement claiming to provide "the most comprehensive overview of higher education in Britain", ranking 135 universities.
Subscribers of the Times and Sunday Times can search the full guide here for more universities and details.
The top university nationally this year was Cambridge, followed by Oxford and St Andrews.
