University of Bath takes top as Complete University Guide’s best university in South West England
The University of Bath has taken the crown as the Complete University Guide’s best higher education institution in South West England 2023.
South West England has had a fantastic year in our 2023 rankings with notable universities climbing the ranking from previous years. These include the University of Bath which rose by two places, the University of Plymouth which rose by five places and the Falmouth University which rose by 29 places this year.
In the overall league tables, the University of Bath deepened its position in the top 10 nationally jumping safely into 8th place. Within the region Bath came top for Research Intensity and Graduate Prospects.
Pockets of excellence
Every year we release UK university and subject league tables to support prospective students in making informed decisions about their future. The regional league tables help people find the right university for them in their area and are also informative for local employers to know what skills people are coming to the area to develop.
Within the South West you’ll find pockets of subject-level excellence. Despite the following universities performing below 40th in the overall table, there are some examples of high-quality subject rankings reinforcing the importance of looking below the overall ranking. Bournemouth University (72nd) ranks 6th nationally for Complementary Medicine and the University of Gloucestershire (101st) ranks 7th for Health Studies as well as 10th for Tourism, Transport, Travel & Heritage Studies.
AECC University College, a specialist provider that doesn't make it into the main league tables, came 5th nationally for Complementary Medicine.
High quality education
Having three of the region’s universities ranking in the UK’s top 50 in this year’s Complete University Guide demonstrates how the region is on track for another year of high-quality education and training provision for students and employers alike. The University of Bristol and University of Exeter join Bath in the UK’s top 25 universities.
Professor Amanda Chetwynd, Chair of the Complete University Guide Advisory Board, said:
Congratulations to the University of Bath for achieving the top position in this year’s Complete University Guide regional rankings. The tight rankings show just how high the standards are among the South West of England’s top universities.
Many prospective students in the South West are keen to find the best university in the local area. Complete University Guide’s regional league tables are a valuable source of information to give local prospective students a greater understanding of what higher education options there are in the South West.
Notes to editors
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The team behind thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk has compiled university league tables for more than 25 years. Since 2007, these have been freely available online. The Guide is an autonomous division of IDP Education, global leader in education services and technology, from which, by mutual agreement, it retains its complete editorial independence.
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thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk attracts over ten million visitors each year.
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The main league table is based on ten measures: Entry Standards, Student Satisfaction, Research Quality, Research Intensity, Graduate Prospects – outcomes, Graduate Prospects – on track, Student-Staff Ratio, Spending on Academic Services, Spending on Student Facilities, and Completion. It includes 130 institutions.
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The Arts, Drama & Music League Table, published since 2016, lists 13 specialist institutions offering too small a subject range to appear in the main table.
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The subject tables are based on five measures (Entry Standards, Student Satisfaction, Research Quality, Graduate Prospects – outcomes and Graduate Prospects – on track) and include 150 universities, university colleges and specialist higher education institutions.
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All university league tables on thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk can be filtered by region and mission group (Cathedrals Group, GuildHE, MillionPlus Group, Russell Group, University Alliance, as well as unaffiliated universities). Tables from the current and previous years can be downloaded. All tables can also be sorted by any of the measures that comprise them.
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Some links within this release may not work until 06:00 BST on 14 June 2022 as they’ll be hidden until the publication of the League Tables.
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Criteria for inclusion in the main university league table or the subject tables can be seen on our website.
Press and media contacts
- Jonah Duffin, Director of External Relations - jonah.duffin@idp.com
- Bethan Clark, Cathod Du Media Agency - bethan@cathoddu.com
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