Essex has moved up to 25th place in The Independent newspaper's Complete University Guide, and is second behind Cambridge in the East of England table.

The table, published on 24 April, ranks 113 UK universities, using a range of criteria including student satisfaction, research assessment, good honours degrees, graduate prospects, facilities and academic services spending and staff:student ratios.

Essex, which climbs from 34th place last year, outranks a number of competitors, including the universities of Sussex, Kent, Reading and East Anglia.

The University also features in the top 20 in eight subject tables: Politics (10th); Linguistics (10th); Drama, Dance & Cinematics(13th); Electrical and Electronic Engineering (14th); Sociology (16th); Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation, Sport & Tourism (17th); Economics (19th) and Psychology (19th).