Bristol is back in the top South West spot in The Sunday Times University Guide.

The 64-page supplement, described as "the definitive guide for prospective students", ranks all universities and leading colleges on a number of criteria.

These include student satisfaction, teaching and research quality, ratings from head teachers, degree results achieved, student to staff ratios, graduate unemployment levels and university dropout rates.

Bristol is in 10th place nationally and Bath in 11th.

Its excellent research results have helped boost its league table position from 16th last year. Bristol is also highly rated by head teachers, reaching its highest rank of third behind only Oxford and Cambridge.

Competition for places remains fierce, and there are still more than 11 applications for every place despite a 3.4 per cent drop this year.

The guide notes: "Bristol will always be popular with independent schools, who provide around 36 per cent of its intake, but it is working hard to diversify its intake."

Student satisfaction at Bristol, while improved, remains relatively low – at 73.8 per cent the university ranks equal 88th, and is out of kilter with the rest of the provision.

The University of the West of England is ranked fifth in the West and 67th overall.