Loughborough voted top university by students Published duration 17 February 2011

image caption Loughborough has been voted best university for the past five years

Loughborough has again topped a student poll to find the UK's best university.

For the fifth year running, the institution came first in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey of 13,000 undergraduates.

Universities were rated on 21 different factors, from the quality of teaching to the social life on campus.

In second place was Sheffield, and third was the University of East Anglia, while both Oxford and Cambridge slipped down the ratings.

Cambridge was in fourth place, down from second last year, and Oxford was sixth, down from third.

Ann Mroz, editor of Times Higher Education, said: "Our annual survey is well established as a benchmark of the student experience at each university.

'Highly influential'

"Unlike other polls, it asks students themselves to rate the factors they see as important - from the quality of teaching, to the non-academic aspects of university life that contribute to a great all-round experience, so it has always been highly influential and very closely watched.

"With universities in England grappling with the new funding regime, working out how much to charge in tuition fees up to the new cap of £9,000 a year, the data in this table will be more important than ever.

"It gives the first clear and comprehensive sense of which universities are already satisfying their students across a range of issues that students value, and which have more work to do, even at current tuition fee levels."

Westminster University came bottom of the table, with the University of East London second to last.

Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, said: "This survey allows students a real voice to say what they think about their experiences and universities.