The University of Portsmouth is ranked 21st in the 2020 Guardian University Guide published today (7 June) - its highest ever position in any university league table. 

This is the fifth successive year that Portsmouth has gone up in the rankings, having risen from 25th last year. The University was ranked 85th in 2012.

The University of Portsmouth has outperformed all other institutions across the South East in a number of areas. The University has the highest graduate outcomes (the number of students entering graduate-level of employment) and our students are the highest satisfied with their course and assessment (based on our National Student Survey score). 

Portsmouth was in the Top 10 subject areas for the UK in eight subject areas: Biosciences (3rd behind Oxford and Cambridge); Design and Crafts (3rd); American Studies (5th); Criminology (5th); Nursing (5th); Anatomy (7th); Mathematics (9th); and Sports Science (9th).

University of Portsmouth Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Galbraith said: “This is incredible news for the University. We continue to outperform some of the most established universities in the UK. 

I am delighted that we have significantly increased the number of staff included in the REF and at the same time improved the overall quality of our research. This gives us a great foundation on which to grow our world-leading research and build on new and emerging areas of excellence, such as our Revolution Plastics initiative, Mission Space and the Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Reality (CCIXR).

Professor Graham Galbraith, University of Portsmouth Vice-Chancellor

The Guardian’s University Guide ranks universities on a range of factors that students care about: how much they will benefit from the teaching, whether current students like the university and the subject, and what their chances are of getting a good job. 

Other aspects that contribute to The Guardian’s University Guide rankings include: spending per student, student/staff ratio, graduate career prospects and a value-added score that compares students’ entry qualifications with their final degree results.

Today’s news reflects the University’s continued success in a range of leading independent national and international guides and ranking tables for excellence.

The University was ranked 53rd in the 2020 Complete University Guide, published last month, and Portsmouth rose six places, to be ranked 53rd, in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019.

Portsmouth was rated Gold in the UK Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and are ranked in the top 20 UK universities for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey (NSS). The Economist also rates the University of Portsmouth as number one in the UK for boosting graduate salaries, with 97.5 per cent of graduates working or in further study six months after they graduated. 

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