Huge rise sees University of Portsmouth reclaim its top 50 place in Complete University Guide rankings

Portsmouth was ranked 47th, up 22 places from 69th in last year’s league table.

In all, 151 universities, university colleges and specialist higher education institutions were ranked in this year’s Guide.

Within the top 50, no university had as big a positional rise as Portsmouth.

The CUG table is designed to support prospective students in making informed decisions about their future.

Regional league tables are also on offer to help people find the right university for them in their area.

The league table is based on independent measures including how satisfied students are with the teaching in the university and how likely they are are to gain a good job on graduating.

As well as academic rankings, the guide covers issues which parents and students also worry about such as cost of living and local crime rates.

Portsmouth’s position reflects a major increase in student satisfaction, where the University is now ranked 35th in the UK.

The University’s boost in ranking also reflects increased expenditure to support student experience.

Portsmouth has moved up 27 places, to the top 40 nationally, for facilities spend.

The new £57m Ravelin sports centre offers everything from a 175-station gym to an eight-lane swimming pool, ski simulator and climbing wall.

Investment in real and simulated learning facilities, including CCIXR with a full range of virtual and extended reality technologies and the Centre for simulation in health and care, support students to develop essential skills.

Portsmouth was ranked in the top 10 nationally in three subjects: Forensic Science, Childhood & Youth Studies and Information Technology.

Professor Graham Galbraith, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, said: ‘These league tables are a valuable source of information for prospective students to help them make the right decisions about where and what to study.

‘Our excellent performance in this nationally recognised and important league table reflects our fundamental mission to provide the very best for our students.

‘They also demonstrate our continued progress towards our long-term ambition to be the top modern UK university and in the top 100 young universities in the world by the end of the decade.’

Portsmouth was handed a 66 per cent overall rating score. Other percentages were 60 (entry standards), 79 (student satisfaction), 75 (research quality) and 72 (graduate prospects).

Heading the table was Cambridge, up from second last year with a 100 per cent overall rating and a 90 per cent graduate prospect mark. Second was Oxford, dropping once place but still with a 98 per cent overall rating.

Across Hampshire, the highest-ranked university was Southampton, in 16th (78 per cent overall score).