New data on crimes committed against students at Huddersfield University have been revealed today in a nationwide survey.

Compiled from official police data, TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk ranking gives the most authoritative picture possible of the crime rates for the most common offences affecting students at almost 130 universities and other higher education institutions in England and Wales.

And the figures are released as universities nationwide stage open days to attract students on their courses next year.

It uses three offences: burglary, robbery and violence and sexual crimes.

Universities are then ranked on the cumulative rate of all three crimes occurring over 12 months in those areas where students live in term-time.

Huddersfield is ranked sixth out of Yorkshire universities with a total of 39.74 annual reported incidents per thousand residents from July 2015 to June 2016.

On burglary it scores 10.57, Robbery just 1.05 – one of the lowest scores – and violence and sexual offences 28.12.

York University students face by far the lowest levels of crime in Yorkshire and the Humber – in fact the lowest nationwide – with Sheffield University in second place and Leeds Trinity University a distant third.

Students at Bradford University are exposed to the highest levels of crime in the region, again by a significant margin, with the Leeds College of Art and Leeds Beckett University in second and third place respectively.

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Bradford University is fifth top nationwide in the Top Ten for crime rates in student-populated areas.

In the ranking of 10 regions across England and Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber has the third highest levels of relevant crime, behind the North East and North West respectively

For this year, TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk has significantly revised its methodology so that comparisons with earlier years are not significant.

They no longer relate to areas within three miles of the designated main campus. Instead, they are derived from the term-time addresses given by students themselves.

As official data for crimes affecting students are not available and universities do not publish any data on a comparable basis, the figures relate to all crimes within the three categories.

They are not a direct measure of these crimes against students.

Dr Bernard Kingston, principal author of TheCompleteUniversityGuide.co.uk, said: “In contrast with the United States where the Clery Act requires universities in receipt of federal funds to disclose campus crime statistics, UK universities do not have to collect and publish data for crimes against students on and near their campuses.

“Regrettably, in the UK, universities are either unable or unwilling to disclose the rates of crime directly affecting their students on campus, let alone off campus, a matter of considerable interest to potential applicants and their parents

“Our data accurately reflect the levels of crime of greatest relevance to students in the streets where they live while studying at university.

“They provide information that is not available to students from their prospective choices of university and which, alongside other advice, assist them to make informed decisions about where to live and study.

“We have refined our methodology to reflect the level of crime where students live while studying. This is fairer to universities in city centres or with multiple campuses.”