BOLTON Institute bosses are not disheartened by the news that, as Britain's newest university, it is the 12th worst in the country.

A respected university guide has put the Institute bottom of the North-west table and 108th out of 119 nationwide.

It comes just a few months after the Institute celebrated becoming a university. Next September it is likely to be known as the University of Bolton, but according to the Sunday Times University Guide it has some work to do.

The league table has been based on areas such as teaching excellence, research quality, proportion of students entering graduate level jobs, drop-out rates and percentage of first and 2:1 degrees awarded. A and AS level grades achieved by entrants were also taken into account.

It shows the Institute has a drop-out rate of 32 per cent and an unemployment rate of 14 per cent. Both these figures were significantly higher than the rest of the North-west's 11 universities.

Last year, Bolton Institute was ranked the 98th university out of 119. The national league is topped by Cambridge University.

The table was compiled using data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, national funding councils and the universities and institutions themselves.

But Bolton Institute Vice-Principal Peter Marsh said: "League tables vary dramatically, according to the things that are included in the measurement and the weighting they are given.

"In the Guardian earlier this year, we were ranked 62nd out of 119 Institutions because they used slightly different indicators.

"We are not a research-intensive Institution, so we wouldn't score highly in research but we do score quite highly in teaching quality."

Mr Marsh said the Institute could not be compared with many universities because 45 per cent of students were part-time and were seeking to improve their prospects in jobs they already had.

He also said 68 per cent of students did gain graduate-level jobs within a year of leaving.

In the North-west, the University of Manchester -- which merges with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology on October 1 -- has been named the top university.

It was ranked the 13th best university in the country and had a drop-out rate of eight per cent last year and an unemployment rate of 7.1 per cent.

Lancaster University was ranked second in the North-west, while the University of Liverpool came third.