DURHAM says it is pleased to have held on to fifth place in a new universities league table.

The North-East’s leading university maintained its 2013 ranking in the 2014 Complete University Guide table, published today (Monday, April 29).

Durham had two top-ranked subjects, English and Iberian Languages, and appeared in the national top ten for 28 subjects.

Professor Chris Higgins, the Vice-Chancellor, said Durham provided a world-class education and its graduates were some of the most sought after in the world by leading employers.

Elsewhere in the table, Cambridge maintained top spot, Oxford regained second place from the London School of Economics, which dropped to third, and Imperial College London held onto fourth.

York was the region’s next best placed institution, holding onto last year’s 12th place.

Newcastle rose one place to 22nd, Northumbria dropped ten to 64th, Teesside was a non-mover at 97th, York St John jumped four places to 99th and Sunderland fell from 89th to 110th.

Newcastle was judged to be the UK’s best university for Aural and Oral Studies.

Dr Bernard Kingston, principal author of The Complete University Guide, said: “This year’s mixture of stability at the top and a degree of volatility in the lower half shows that, for many institutions, small differences between them render them vulnerable to fluctuations in their rankings.

“What is beyond dispute is that the top ten includes some of the world’s finest higher education institutions.”

For more information, thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk