Bristol University ranks 16th in the Good University Guide 2024

Bristol University has placed 16th in the Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024, falling one place since last year to come behind Lancaster, Loughborough and York university.

Compiled yearly, the guide ranks universities on teaching value, student experience, research quality, entry standards, graduate prospects, first and 2:1 degrees, staff/student ratio and the continuation rate.

This year the top spot was taken by St Andrews, followed by Oxford University in second place and Cambridge in third.

20 Bristol subjects ranked top 10 in their fields, with Russian and eastern Europeans languages coming first in the UK. Aeronautical and manufacturing engineering and animal science courses came in second place.

The Guide described Bristol as “more in demand than ever” and that it had “redoubled its research pedigree in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF)”.

Bristol performed strongly in its research quality, coming in 6th place thanks to the REF report which marked 94 per cent of the work of 1500 staff members as world-leading or excellent. Subjects with notably high research quality include engineering, medicine, law, chemistry and geography.

However, Bristol was let down by the poor responses the National Student Survey received for assessment and feedback and academic support, meaning it ranked 100th for student experience and 113th for teaching quality.

The guide praises the employability of Bristol graduates, saying “a degree from Bristol carries weight in the jobs market”. In 2023 Bristol was the fourth most targeted by top employers according to the High Fliers graduate market report. This boosted its employability ranking to 20th place, an impressive showing for a university that offers only a small number of professional placements.

It’s strongest performance was in its continuation rate, coming in at 5th place with with 97.6 per cent of students completing their degree.

The number of firsts and 2:1s ranked similarly high at number 11, with 89.45 per cent of students receiving a degree qualification in the top two bands.

Despite being one of the first universities to introduce contextual offers, Bristol remains outside the top 100 for social inclusion, rising to 104th from 113th. Last year, 61.3 per cent of admissions were from state-schools whilst 24.6 per cent were from independent schools.

Prof Tansy Jessop, the University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Students and Education, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many of our subjects once again featured highly in the Times Good University Guide 2024.

“As the new academic year begins, we’re incredibly excited that a new cohort of students can experience for themselves what a fantastic place Bristol is, both for studying and living.”

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Featured image credit @BristolUni via Twitter