Students at Essex University have an excellent record of achievement, according to a new Government-sponsored league table published on Friday.

The Colchester-based university had "top class efficiency rates" and a low number of students who dropped out of courses.

The conclusions were made from the first UK-wide official data on performance for universities, published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The "efficiency rates" compared the time students should ideally take to obtain a degree to the actual time they are expected to take - normally three or four years.

Essex showed an efficiency rate of 91 per cent, compared to an average of 85 per cent across the sector, which ranked them 16th in the table for this indicator.

And it had a drop-out rate of just 11 per cent, five per cent below the national average, showing that 89 per cent of students completed their courses and gained degrees.

Professor Ivor Crewe, the university's vice chancellor, said: "These statistics provide clear evidence the university is performing well on a range of indicators and considerably better than average.

"In comparison to the rest of the UK sector, we are better at keeping our students and at making sure they graduate within the normal period of three years."

Anglia Polytechnic University, which is split between two sites in Chelmsford and Cambridge, had a drop out rate of 14 per cent. And the number of students completing courses in the allotted time was 78 per cent.

But other figures showed it was succeeding in its mission to open access to higher education to an even wider group of people and was serving local schools well.

It had attracted 93 per cent of its intake from the state sector, well ahead of target.

Vice-chancellor Mike Malone-Lee said: "We are delighted to have it confirmed we are succeeding in our mission to make a first-class university education available to all who can benefit regardless of age, family background, income or previous experience. These figures show students come to us because we meet their needs."

Today's performance tables were welcomed by the Government, which aims to widen access to higher education still further, particularly among poorer students.

Ministers promise an extra 100,000 higher education places by 2002 and aim eventually to see half of all school leavers going to university.

Education minister Baroness Blackstone said today's tables would boost "standards and transparency" in higher education.

But she warned that high drop-out rates nationally were "a potential waste of talent and an inefficient use of taxpayers' money".

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