Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023: Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan rankings revealed

Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan have both ranked in the top five universities in the North West in the latest Times university guide.

The University of Manchester has ranked second, closely followed by Manchester Metropolitan in fourth, in the The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.

The prolific guide, released annually, ranks UK universities on factors relating to all aspects of student life, using data from the 2022 National Student Survey on quality of teaching and student satisfaction.

In terms of national rankings, the University of Manchester ranks 24 overall in the country, dropping one place from the previous year, while Manchester Metropolitan has jumped up an impressive 10 places from 70 to 60.

The University Salford – 8th in the North West – has also had a significant boost in its national ranking, rising 10 places from 98 to 88.

The highest improvement in national rankings for the North West overall is Liverpool John Moores, which has climbed 20 places from 91 to 71.

The University of Bolton, however, has dropped 33 places in the national rankings from 91 to 124 – the largest position change in the North West.

Of the 12 North West universities featured on the list, Bolton ranks 11.

Topping the ranks for the North West is Lancaster University, which comes in at 12 overall for the UK, down one from 2022.

The University of Manchester narrowly beat Lancaster in one category this year – graduate prospects.

Manchester University has 83% graduates in high-skilled jobs or graduate-level study, compared to Lancaster’s 82.6%.

Manchester was not far behind Lancaster in the completion rate rankings either at 93.9%, just 0.2% behind Lancaster.

Manchester Metropolitan has a 86.1% completion rate, Salford – 81.3%, and Bolton – 76.3%.

But the University of Manchester has not fared so well in the results from the 2022 National Student Survey.

The University of Manchester has the lowest numbers in Greater Manchester for both teaching quality and student experience, at 69.5% and 66.3% respectively.

Student dissatisfaction in Manchester has been high in recent years due to the interruptions caused by coronavirus pandemic, when teaching was mostly done online.

Bolton, Greater Manchester’s lowest overall ranking university, had the highest of all North West universities for teaching quality at 80.8% and student experience 76.8%.

The full guide can be found on the The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023 website, where you will also find subject breakdowns and 135 university profiles.