The University of Surrey has jumped into the top 10 of the 2016 league table of universities published by The Times and The Sunday Times for the first time, while the University of Sussex has climbed into the top 20.
The institutions beat many of their Russell Group peers to make the upper echelons of this year’s Good University Guide; Surrey climbed three places to 8th, and was also named University of the Year 2015-16, while Sussex rose six places to 19th.
The universities also made strides in the Guardian’s list of the top UK universities published earlier this year.
Meanwhile, London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of East Anglia both fell four places to 9th and 18th place respectively.
The University of Cambridge claimed the top spot, after sharing the glory with the University of Oxford in last year’s list.
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2016: top 20 UK universities
| 2016 rank | 2015 rank | Institution |
| 1 | 1= | University of Cambridge |
| 2 | 1= | University of Oxford |
| 3 | 4 | Imperial College London |
| 4 | 3 | University of St Andrews |
| 5 | 6 | Durham University |
| 6 | 8 | University of Warwick |
| 7 | 7 | University of Exeter |
| 8 | 11 | University of Surrey |
| 9 | 5 | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| 10 | 9 | University College London |
| 11 | 12 | Lancaster University |
| 12 | 10 | University of Bath |
| 13 | 13 | Loughborough University |
| 14 | 17 | University of Leeds |
| 15 | 16 | University of York |
| 16 | 18 | University of Southampton |
| 17 | 15 | University of Birmingham |
| 18 | 14 | University of East Anglia |
| 19 | 25 | University of Sussex |
| 20 | 19 | University of Bristol |
