OXFORD University has maintained its ranking as the second best university in the UK, pipped to first place once again by rival Cambridge.

Both of the city's universities featured in top 10 for the South East, according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.

Oxford Brookes University was in eighth place for the region and 56th overall.

Oxford was also named overall 'University of the Year' because of its work on the coronavirus vaccine and its efforts to improve social mobility.

Cambridge, however, ranked higher in the tables which accompany the guide, with Scotland's St Andrews University coming in third behind the top pair.

The academic league table is made up of nine indicators, including student satisfaction with teaching quality and their wider student experience, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios, service and facilities spend, and degree completion rates.

The new edition of the 96-page supplement will be published this weekend in The Sunday Times.

It includes profiles on 135 universities and has a fully searchable website with university profiles and 67 subject tables, which went online on Friday.

Despite coming top of the table, Cambridge was scored worst for social inclusion, with Oxford the third worst behind Durham.

Editor of The Sunday Times Good University Guide,Alaistair McCall, said: “Oxford is the standout candidate for University of the Year, playing a critical role in some of the critical issues facing us today and providing academic leadership at key moments.

"The whole of mankind stands to benefit from its Covid-19 research, where Oxford academics have led the way from the outset and are now trialling a vaccine.”