THE Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has been praised for being a university where there are few drop outs in its debut appearance in a national university guide.

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, published this month, helps students find a students and their parents find a suitable university.

In the guide,  the RAU, was named University of the Year for Student Retention, in recognition of only 3.3 per cent of students not dropping out of their courses.

It also ranked fourth out of the 12 universities in the South West and was placed 51st out of the 127 universities.

RAU principal,Chris Gaskell ,said: “We pride ourselves on the support, open-door policy, and personal approach we offer to all our students and so we are thrilled receive this award in recognition of our degree completion rates. We welcome The Sunday Times decision to include the RAU, as a small and specialist institution, in the rankings for the first time and are delighted to be named as the fourth best university in the South West and ranked in the top half of all UK’s universities.”

Earlier this year, the university was being placed in the top ten in the UK for facilities spend, degree completion, and academic service spend by the The Complete University Guide.