The University of Northampton has rocketed up one of the most influential league tables for higher education institutions in the UK.
The Guardian University Guide has placed the university 47th out of 119 colleges in the country, up from 86th last year.
And there were major improvements in the teaching of the arts with a leap from 54th to 17th for art and design teaching and from 54th to 18th for drama and dance.
The newspaper described the rise of the university as “remarkable” and down largely to improved job prospects and the entry standard for its students.
Paul Middleton, executive dean at the school of arts, said: “We test every decision we make against what it means for students.”
He told The Guardian that it was his goal to become one of the UK’s top five schools of the arts and the key to that was timetabling sessions to listen about what students think about their course and making sure it’s not just the most vocal individuals who speak out”.
He also praised “high profile collaborations with companies and institutions like Prada, Silverstone, the BBC and ITV: “{There has also been} a determined effort to woo the best tutors to Northampton., people with strong industry and research experience, but we are also making it clear they have to have strong motivation to work with students. They have full teaching loads and are on campus five days a week.
“We expect them to be available not just during contact hours, but for questions and discussions around that. This is absolutely critical to a good experience.”
Research shows this particular survey is the one most favoured by students and is highly influential in deciding university choices for young people.
The best UK university for the third year running was Cambridge, followed by Oxford, the London School of Economics, St Andrews and University College London. The top universities in the East Midlands region were Leicester and Loughborough, placed at 13th and 14th.
Professor Nick Petford, vice-chancellor of the University of Northampton said: “We are delighted with our position in the Guardian League Table and proud to have met our aim to become a Top 50 institution by 2015 early.
“Our commitment to student experience, intellectual capital, strategic partnerships and financial sustainability is all part of our ‘Raising the Bar’ strategy.
“As we continue to value these four critical success factors we will endeavour to head towards delivering outstanding life changing opportunities in education.
“With a great result for 2014, we will now focus on maintaining and improving this position over the coming years.”
The survey uses data from several different sources including staff-student ratios, expenditure, entry scores and career prospects.