The city's university arts college has been named as the top establishment of its kind in the country in a prestigious league table.

The top honour for Norwich University College of the Arts (NUCA) came in the Guardian's University Guide 2012 and comes at a time when demand for places at the college is huge.

John Last, principal professor at NUCA, said: 'NUCA's commitment to delivering a learning experience which incorporates our strong links to creative industry companies to prepare our students for work is one of many factors to have stood us in good stead. We are delighted that the efforts of our staff and student community are being recognised nationally, not only through the Guardian's league tables but also in increased applications from across the country and also from international candidates.' A statement from NUCA said the ranking was the latest boost at a time when the university college is booming. The admissions team at NUCA is currently dealing with a 15pc increase on last year's total of applications to its arts, design and media degree courses – compared with a sector-wide increase of 5pc.

The Guardian's specialist institutions league table is calculated through a combination of graduate career prospects, national student survey results, value added to academic achievement, student/staff ratio, spend per student and application grade requirements. NUCA rose five places in the table to move above all other universities specialising in arts education in England. NUCA is an independent higher education institution which aims to be a centre of excellence for creativity, learning and enterprise.