Sussex is one of the top 25 universities in the UK, according to a new league table. 

The Complete University Guide, published on 30 April in association with the Independent newspaper, ranks Sussex fourth in the south-east region (behind Oxford, Southampton and Royal Holloway), and 25^th in the UK - up four places on the table for 2008. 

The guide ranks Sussex among the top ten universities nationally for American Studies (2^nd), Social Work (7^th) and Anthropology (8^th). 

Fifteen subjects at Sussex are in the top 20. Sociology (11^th), Chemistry (12^th), Drama (12^th), Italian (13^th), Physics (16^th), Neuroscience (Anatomy and Physiology) (18^th), Linguistics (18^th), Media (18^th), Psychology (18^th), Philosophy (19^th), Mechanical Engineering (20^th) and Politics/International Relations (20^th) are all ranked among the best 20 of their kind. 

Among the biggest improvers are Drama, which jumped 20 places from 32^nd to 12^th, and Sociology, up from 25^th in 2008. 

Professor Michael Farthing, Vice-Chancellor, said: "I am pleased that Sussex continues to improve its position. The individual subject scores, alongside our high overall ranking, confirm the depth and breadth in quality at Sussex."

The table was compiled by giving each of the 113 higher education institutions a score on nine measures: student satisfaction, research, entry standards, student-staff ratio, spending on academic services, facilities spending, percentage of students gaining "good honours", graduate prospects, and completion rates.