Staffordshire University knocked the country's oldest seat of learning off the number one spot in the annual survey of teacher training providers.

Oxford had been top of the table since the ratings began five years ago.

The table, prepared using data from the Teacher Training Agency, ranks departments on the entry qualifications and employment records of their students and on their Ofsted inspection grades.

Small group

Staffordshire came out top after climbing to second place last year and now ranks ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick and Manchester universities.

The new university's success is put down to concentrating on one specific area of training, in this case business studies and economics teaching.

The table was compiled by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson at Liverpool University's Centre for Education and Employment Research.

Prof Smithers said Staffordshire's relatively small business studies group brought in some very well qualified graduates and the Ofsted inspection rating was excellent.

"That's why it has been judged to be ahead of Oxford," he said.

"It's unlucky for Oxford because Oxford has improved this year."

The Teacher Training Agency data also show a rise of four percentage points in the proportion of newly qualified teachers who were actually in teaching posts by the January following their training, to 84.5%.

Michael Day, director of funding and quality, said: "The fact that more newly qualified teachers are going straight into school shows they are confident they are well trained and thoroughly prepared for their new careers."