THE University of Bolton has been placed bottom of the North West universities league tables.

It was ranked last among the 12 universities in the region — which include Cumbria and Chester — in the annual Complete University Guide 2016.

But the university did improve its national ranking, moving up from 121 to be placed 120 out of 126 universities in the country.

A spokesman said the news was good when measured on student satisfaction and staff to student ratio.

"The university ranked 77th out of the 126 universities in respect of student satisfaction, this also reflects investment in additional staff and the consequent improvement in the staff-student ratio, " the spokesman said.

"The university ranks 78th out of the 126 for the staff-student ratio. We are pleased to see another increase in our entry standards scores and a substantial improvement in the number of students gaining good honours degrees.

"Overall the improvement in our league table position illustrates the direction of travel of the university as set out by the Vice Chancellor, Professor George E. Holmes. "

The table ranks universities on various areas including student satisfaction, research, graduate prospects.

Top of the North West table was Lancaster University, and nationally Cambridge heads the ranking of 126 UK universities, followed by the University of Oxford.

Bottom of the national tables was London Metropolitan.

Dr Bernard Kingston, principal author of TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk, said: "The league tables, taken with the rankings for specific subjects, offer would-be students an accurate and independent guide to the UK university system. They should not be used in isolation but alongside all the other advice and information in the Guide.

"Its tables are recognised for their stability and consistency, and this year once again demonstrates this."

For more information, see the 2016 league tables on TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk.