University of Exeter among South West's best in Good University Guide 2025

The University of Exeter's ranking has slipped but it is still rated among the region's best

The University of Exeter has been named among the best in the region in a prestigious annual guide. The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 ranked it in third place in the South West - and it was just outside the top ten nationwide at 13th.

The university's ranking has slipped a little from last year when it was second best in the region. Last year it was also University of Year 2024 runner-up behind University College London.

The University of Bath was named the number one university in the South West for 2025 and was runner up for Sports University of the Year. The University of Bristol was second in the region and 11th nationally, with the University of the West of England and University of Plymouth making up the rest of the regional top five.

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide aims to provide definitive rankings for UK universities, with profiles for 134 universities covering everything from research reputation to campus facilities, scholarships and bursaries, and nightlife. It also evaluates satisfaction with teaching quality and the student experience through to degree completion rates and graduate employment prospects.

The 96-page guide will be published in this weekend's Sunday Times (September 22) and is available to read online now.

A spokesperson for the guide said: "The best universities — whether they were founded in the 15th century or 2005 — are local and global powerhouses of intellectual thought and creativity, from the arts to science, that can power economic regeneration and lead the way to a better life. But what and where to study — and how to pay for it — has never been tougher. This is where our comprehensive guide can help.

“This year we have tweaked our methodology to keep up with contemporary concerns around climate change and careers and have added in a sustainability metric, teaming up with People & Planet, and boosted the weighting of graduate prospects.

"The higher education sector is facing unprecedented challenges from debates on free speech to financial stability, but it is important to remember the force for good that going to university can be."

Good University Guide 2025 - how South West universities rank

The authors of the guide found students now have 32,000 undergraduate courses to choose from.

London School of Economics and Political Science was named University of the Year 2025, with the University of Sheffield runner-up.

The full guide can be found HERE.