Ranked 10th, a climb of 4 places from 2013, Lancaster is the highest ranked of only 14 UK universities to be listed in the league table.

Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark E Smith, welcomed the achievement: “This is a great result for us as we celebrate Lancaster’s 50th anniversary. Lancaster is a dynamic, young and forward-looking university which has seen incredible success in just 50 years.

“Lancaster has confirmed its place among the world’s elite institutions with its consistent high placing in all major league tables.”

Other UK universities in the table include Warwick (12th), the University of Essex (22nd), Brunel University (29th) and the University of Bath (34th).

Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, said: “The academy's traditional, ancient elite should be warned – many of the exciting young universities on this forward-looking list do not see their youth as a disadvantage in the global knowledge economy. While they may not have had centuries to accumulate wealth and cannot draw on generations of alumni and rich traditions of scholarship to drive their reputations, they are free from the burdens of history: free to be more agile, lean, flexible and risk-taking, giving them an advantage in a rapidly changing global marketplace; free to offer innovative teaching and focus their research on niche, high-impact areas.”