UNIVERSITY of the West of Scotland (UWS) is in its first Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

The university which has a campus in Ayr, is celebrating its breakthrough into this league table which is the only global performance ranking that judges research-intensive universities across all core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

UWS, whose research was rated at internationally-excellent and world leading in the Research Excellence Framework 2014, is in the overall band of 601-800 out of 980, which THE states as the top 5 per cent of universities worldwide.

UWS ranks joint 64th out of the 91 UK institutions listed. More than 1,300 universities, from 79 countries, took part in the data collection. The rankings are compiled by THE from 13 metrics across the themes of teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income.

The university prides itself for being an increasingly international university; its highest ranked area was for International Outlook, coming 320th out of 980.

The university’s entry into this global league table follows recent strong performances in UK rankings such as the National Student Survey which saw five UWS courses – Aircraft Engineering, Community Education, Forensic Science, Sport and Exercise Science, and Midwifery – come top in the UK for overall student satisfaction.

The survey saw 100 per cent of respondents studying these courses state that they were satisfied with their course.

The 2014/15 HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) performance indicators showed 95 per cent of all UWS graduates in work or further study six months after graduation, and for its professional employment figures UWS ranks 8 per cent above the Scottish average.

Professor Craig Mahoney, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UWS, said: “We’re committed to growing our international reach and being included in this world ranking which features the best universities from across the globe is fantastic news.

"It’s testament to the hard work of colleagues across the university and the support of the University Court. UWS is developing, we’re strengthening our academic excellence and building our research expertise.”