THE University of Gloucestershire has climbed 16 places in the prestigious Complete University Guide league table for 2026.

The league table is based on ten measures including entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, spending on academic services, student-staff ratio and graduate prospects.

Overall, the university is joint 72nd out of 130 universities. The rise builds on a strong performance in last year’s league table, where the university climbed seven places.

Dame Clare Marchant DBE, Vice-Chancellor and CEO of University of Gloucestershire, said: “These fantastic results across two independent league tables reflect the hard work and dedication of our staff and students against a challenging landscape.

“Climbing 16 places in the Complete University Guide shows we are going from strength to strength.

“We are also now eighth in the UK in the University Compare rankings for employability and are inside the top 50 for course quality and student life. This demonstrates we are having a positive impact across all those areas that matter most to our students.

“In a sector where funding remains a key challenge, I am proud that we are backing up our vision with real investment in our campuses in both Cheltenham and Gloucester, alongside investment in our people through management development and wellbeing programmes.

“These developments are about building on our strengths as a connected university by creating vibrant and inspiring spaces where students can collaborate – with each other, with employers and with the community as a whole.”

The Complete University Guide highlights some of the areas of high performance across several subject areas. It has been ranked eighth best in the overall subject rankings for Physiotherapy, and in the top 20 for Communications and Media Studies, Paramedic Science, Theology and Religious Studies, and Town and Country Planning and Landscape Design.

The full table is available online.