THE University of Chester is the most improved in the region and joint third nationally, according to the biggest newspaper university guide in the country.

Chester has risen 21 places to 76th position out of 125 institutions in the Sunday Times University Guide 2012 – its highest ever ranking in what is the 14th edition of the publication.

The guide ranks Chester – which has campuses in both the city and Warrington – sixth best out of the eleven universities in the North West, placing it higher than larger institutions such as Liverpool John Moores, Edge Hill and Manchester Metropolitan.

The university comes second in the region for teaching excellence, beating the top ranked university in the North West – Lancaster.

And it has the fourth best ranking for the percentage of students gaining graduate level jobs relating to their degree.

Professor and vice chancellor Tim Wheeler said: “We are absolutely delighted with our position in the Sunday Times University Guide 2012, which is our best ever placing to date in one of the country’s most avidly referenced publications.

“As we move into a new funding and fees regime for higher education from 2012, it is particularly noteworthy that the university’s strengths are in areas that give our students a high return on their investment in terms of their teaching and learning experience and where the employability of our graduates is proven.

“The Sunday Times University Guide 2012 is firmly established as an important measure of universities’ performance and as the sector becomes ever more competitive, our presence and position within this league will be increasingly monitored by prospective students.

“I applaud our academic and support staff for their diligence and commitment, which continues to enable us to address the needs of our students. I commend our students for all their effort and hard work and the excellent results that they have achieved.”

The league table is drawn up from criteria including student satisfaction, teaching and research quality, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, graduate unemployment levels and university dropout rates.