THE UNIVERSITY of Bradford has dropped twenty three places in a national newspaper's guide of the best higher education establishments.

The Sunday Times' Good University Guide 2019 now ranks the city's only university at number 98, down from 75th in 2018.

Its fall down the rankings rounds off a miserable few months for the institution, which announced earlier this year that 200 administrative staff would be made redundant and student numbers at the university are falling.

Professor Brian Cantor also announced this week he would be standing down from his role as Vice Chancellor.

Prof Cantor was recently the subject of a motion for a vote of no confidence by the UCU University of Bradford Local Association.

Alastair McCall, Editor of the guide, said the rankings are measured on nine indicators, and the University of Bradford has dropped across five of them.

He said the most notable drop was in student satisfaction, which is measured through the National Student Survey of third year students.

Last year, the survey ranked Bradford at 93rd for Teaching Quality, but it now sits at 120th, while it dropped from 52nd to joint 99th for its student experience.

Mr McCall said: "I think this guide does have an impact on the University in terms of application and recruitment.

"Students are paying £9,000 a year in tuition fees and they are being more demanding of universities.

"Bradford is usually in the middle reaches of our table and for it to be reduced to the lower reaches is unusual, and this will be tackled."

Mr McCall believes the university will improve and pointed to the University of Aberystwyth as an example.

He added: "It was ranked 100th two years ago for teaching quality and this year it ranked first.

"The Chancellor was horrified by the results and has turned it around."

A University of Bradford spokesman said: "While disappointing to see such fluctuations in annual rankings, it is pleasing to see that Bradford continues to be one of the best universities in the region for preparing our students well for both professional employment and postgraduate study, with consistently high numbers of our graduates progressing successfully to both work and further study."