The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With more than 49,000 applications for 5,500 places in 2011, Nottingham is the third most popular university in the UK, and has been described by the Times as "the nearest Britain has to a truly global university" and "a prime alternative to Oxbridge". Nottingham traditionally has one of the highest application to place ratios of any university in the United Kingdom, leading the Sunday Times to describe a place there as "among the most sought-after in higher education" and "with almost 10 applicants per place, Nottingham is one of the hardest universities to get into in the UK". Thus, entry into Nottingham is extremely competitive, with new undergraduates consistantly averaging a UCAS tariff score in excess of 420 points (equivalent to over AAAa at A-Level) and "more than 80% of its students having at least three A grades at A-Level" according to the Times.