Bristol is one of the top twenty universities in the UK

We’re higher than Manchester, Edinburgh and Nottingham


The University of Bristol came a slightly disappointing 20th place in The Times and Sunday Times University league tables this year.

Bristol’s place among the leading universities in the UK was triumphantly confirmed by the results from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, when the university ranked just outside the top five.

It was rewarded for entering more than 90% of its eligible staff  – a higher proportion than Oxford – and still seeing 83% of its research rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Among the many successes, geography consolidated its position as the leader in its subject, while the entire submissions in clinical medicine, health subjects, economics and sport and exercise sciences were placed in the top categories for their external impact.

These outstanding results should have moved Bristol back up our league table after it dropped to a disappointing 19th place last year. The further one-place fall is down to poor student satisfaction ratings — where the university ranks scores of places lower than for any other of our performance indicators.

Dark horse University of Surrey snagged University of the Year, while Leeds came runner up.

The prestigious Good University Guide, released today, measures teaching quality, student experience, research quality, entry standards, graduate prospects, percentage of Firsts and 2.1s, degree completion rate, student to staff ratio and spending on services and facilities.

It’s another tough year for Russell Group unis, with the likes of Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool being beaten by Bath and the University of East Anglia.

Both top London unis UCL and LSE fared badly in teaching quality.

As usual, St Andrews snagged the title for best university in Scotland.

The University of Surrey in leafy Guildford not only made its way into the top ten, but was also crowned University of the Year.

Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Christopher Snowden said: “We are offering a high quality experience across the board and we are aiming to offer students the highest level of support to enable them to achieve their full potential.”