Staff and students at Cirencester’s Royal Agricultural University (RAU) are celebrating after the university moved up a massive 22 places in the Complete University Guide 2024.

Of the 130 universities listed, the RAU was joint-third in achieving the highest change in rank position coming in at number 73.

Graham Pollard, Chief Operating Officer at the RAU, said: “We are absolutely delighted with this result, most of all because it is recognition received directly from our students. Our staff are committed to putting students at the centre of all we do.

“For the RAU to be recognised in this way is testament to the hard work taking place across our university community to provide our students with the best possible experience and bright futures ahead.”

The Complete University Guide releases university and subject league tables every year 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 national league table, which compares 130 institutions, is based on 10 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 continuation.

Professor Amanda Chetwynd, Chair of the Complete University Guide Advisory Board, said: “Our league table is based on independent measures that we know are important to students including how satisfied students are with the teaching in the university and how likely students are to gain a good job on graduating.

“The subject league tables have seen lots of movement in the rankings this year and are a really valuable source of information for prospective students who know what they want to study but need some help deciding where.”