Staffordshire and Wolverhampton universities named in West Midlands top 20

The two universities were named as some of the best in our region in the Sunday Times Good University Guide.

Staffordshire University came seventh in the West Midlands and 57th across the country, while Wolverhampton University came 11th regionally and 127th nationally.

But figures showed that 30 per cent of Wolverhampton's students dropped out before completing their degree.

The new edition of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 includes profiles on 132 universities, making use of the latest data published in the past two months.

In the West Midlands the University of Warwick was named in the top spot, with the University of Birmingham and Harper Adams University, in Shropshire, came second and third respectively. Newport's Harper Adams was also named 33rd in the UK.

The University of Warwick is the top-ranked university in the West Midlands, maintaining its record of never having ranked outside of the elite UK top 10, despite a one place fall in its overall rating.

Elsewhere in the West Midlands, Coventry University has been made University of the Year for Student Experience by The Times and The Sunday Times University Guide. Applications rose by eight per cent for courses starting this month, an impressive increase when compared against a downward national trend.

The University of Birmingham moved up from 15th to 14th in this year's standings. Gaining a place at Birmingham has become increasingly difficult with only 330 more students admitted from 6,000 additional applications in 2018.

This was the fifth year in a row that applications had risen, initially helped by the university starting the trend for unconditional offers. Most subjects now operate the somewhat controversial scheme, which guarantees a place to students with high predicted grades holding one of the offers who place the university as their first choice. That place is honoured whatever the outcome of their A-levels.