ABERYSTWYTH University has been ranked among the top 200 higher education institutions in Europe.

Aberystwyth is ranked 161st of all European universities in data compiled for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16 released last year, which showed Aberystwyth University bouncing back to climb 50 places.

The rankings pushed Aberystwyth back into the 301-350 out of 800 institutions worldwide bracket - the position the institution lost the year before.

In 2015, Aberystwyth was ranked between 351-400, down from 301-350 in 2014.

In both 2012 and 2013 Aberystwyth was ranked higher still at 276-300.

The rankings saw Aberystwyth move into the UK’s top 40 institutions, at 39th out of 78.

The THE rankings are based on five criteria; teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook.

The university rose in the rankings in three categories; teaching, citations and international outlook but fell in two others; research and industry income.

Improvements in international outlook, where Aberystwyth was ranked 162nd, and citations (260th) were the major reasons for the climb.

The THE World University Rankings do not measure student satisfaction - a major source of the falls in other leading league tables.

The UK topped the ranking of the 200 best universities in Europe, taking nearly a quarter of places (46), with Oxford University again coming out on top.