Lancaster University has leapfrogged Manchester to top the league table of Northwest universities, according to The Sunday Times University Guide 2007 out this weekend.

Lancaster University, which beats its big city rival for the first time since 2002, has an international reputation for high-quality teaching and outstanding research. It was shortlisted for the Sunday Times University of the Year title last year and breaks back into the elite national top 20 also for the first time in five years coming 18^th overall in the table.

Lancaster University Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said: “We are delighted to have this vote of confidence from students, peers and head teachers which has combined with our sound research and teaching record to  prove what we at Lancaster already know – that Lancaster University is an outstanding, friendly collegiate community  which students love with an academic reputation that rivals its bigger competitors.”

A Sunday Times spokesman said: “Lancaster University has always been in the academic vanguard of research into the environment, being one of the first to make ecology a full degree subject. A BSc in geography, specialising in environmental change is to be introduced next year and a BEng and MEng in sustainable engineering continues the eco-friendly theme. Just under half of students benefit from a bursary, scholarship or subject award.”

Liverpool University was ranked third with the University of Central Lancashire in fourth place in the region.

The Sunday Times University Guide 2007 was compiled using data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa), the National Student Survey, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, the national funding councils, head teachers, peers and the 123 institutions themselves. Each university and college is ranked according to the total mark it achieved across nine distinct areas: student satisfaction; teaching excellence; head teachers and peer assessments; research quality; A/AS-level (or Higher/Advanced Higher) grades achieved by entrants; graduate employment and proportion of students entering graduate level jobs; percentage of first and 2:1 degrees awarded; student/staff ratios; and dropout rates. 

Head teachers at more than 1,000 leading state and independent secondary schools were asked to identify the highest-quality undergraduate provision in 30 subjects. The number of subject citations received at each institution was expressed as a percentage of the maximum number it was possible to achieve had every head cited a given university in every subject for which it offered a course. The ranking in the table above is derived from this percentage. 

More than 2,200 academics were contacted for The Sunday Times peer assessment survey. They were asked to rate departments in their subject field at other universities on a five-point scale for the quality of their undergraduate provision. The ranking shown below is based on an institution’s overall score expressed as a percentage of the maximum score possible had all academics given every department the highest possible rating.

Top in the Northwest

(last year’s ranking in brackets)