ABERYSTWYTH students are “on to a good thing”, organisers of an influential league table have said, after it was named the University of the Year for Teaching Quality.

The university received the award from The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018, where Aberystwyth climbed another nine places from 56th last year to 47th.

It follows a spectacular 23-place rise in last year’s overall national rankings, the best of any UK university - with Aberystwyth now ranked third in Wales, behind only Cardiff and Swansea.

Aberystwyth is in the UK top 10 for student satisfaction with both the wider student experience and the quality of the teaching received, ranking eighth for student experience with 84.2 per cent, and fifth for teaching quality with 86.2 per cent.

Alastair McCall, editor of The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018, said: “Students at Aberystwyth know they are on to a good thing and have been swift to acknowledge it.

“The university has secured some of the most remarkable scores in the UK from students for the quality of teaching it offers. It is one of a very few universities to increase its student satisfaction scores in this area from last year, against a backdrop of a much tougher National Student Survey. The efforts made by the university in the past two years to improve the student experience have paid an immediate dividend and the university’s strategic plan promises further improvements in the years ahead.

“Our award acknowledges the strides made and shows how the National Student Survey can be used to make a tangible, positive difference when university management decides to act upon its findings.”

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