Exeter has been named the top university in the South West, after reaching a new high in the national rankings.
High levels of student satisfaction, a low dropout rate and good research grades are making the University of Exeter a fixture in the top 10 of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table.
Exeter, which was The Sunday Times University of the Year in 2012-13, has seen a 29 per cent growth in applications and the demand for places and looks set to keep on growing.
The university has moved up one place to seventh overall in the 2015 guide, published this weekend, with an 86.4 per cent student satisfaction rating and £2,356 per student spent on facilities.
Exeter also scored well for graduate prospects, with 79.6 per cent going on to professional jobs or graduate-level study.
University of Exeter Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Sir Steve Smith said: "I am absolutely thrilled that the University of Exeter has been named not only the best university in the South West, but also that we have risen to seventh, our highest ranking to date.
"This is not only a proud day for everyone at the University, but also for the local community and for our many partners here in the South West and across the globe, who are crucial to our success."
The main Streatham campus, close to the centre of Exeter, is one of the most attractive settings of any university and has benefited from investment in student residences. The jewel in the crown of the new developments is the Forum, which features an extended library, a new student services centre and technology-rich learning spaces.
The university's other base is the £100m Penryn campus in Cornwall. Shared with Falmouth University, it offers degrees in biosciences, geography, geology, clean energy, English, history, politics and mining engineering. A £30m Environment and Sustainability Institute has opened on the campus and a new £5.5m facility will enable the Business School to expand into Cornwall in 2015.
Bath remains in the national top 10 despite dropping three places this year and ceding the regional top spot to Exeter. It has seen a 12 per cent rise in applications in 2014, repeating the previous year's increase and far outpacing the national average.
The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015 contains full profiles of all universities and the leading colleges of higher education. The league table is drawn up from criteria including student satisfaction, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios, service and facilities spend, and university dropout rates.
The newspaper content will be published over the course of a week, beginning with a 56- page supplement published in The Sunday Times this weekend.
A fully searchable website with full university profiles and 66 subject tables will be published at www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/gooduniversityguide.
