"... risen four places to five places" is not the way a native speaker would express themselves, so I am unsure of the details of what exactly you are trying to say.

One possible meaning might be "risen by four to five places", which would mean that the ranking has risen maybe up by an additional four places, or maybe up by an additional five places.

Another possible meaning might be "risen by four places to the fifth spot", which would mean the ranking went from nine to five.

So maybe you should give a long and detailed explanation of the situation that you are trying to describe, so we can think of what is the best thing to say.

(N.B. place = position = spot)

That's great news

Perhaps it means:

'We have risen 4 places to fifth place'

Or in other words, they were in 9th place, but they have gone up four places in the league table and are now in 5th place. This would make them now the 5th best university in the country for a particular subject, according to the table.

By the way, don't be misled into thinking that Oxford Brookes University has anything to do with Oxford University.

Hey, I've never heard the hedge mustard/Jack by the hedge thing before. I'm English as well.

Regarding universities;

Oxford, Cambridge, London 

Those are the BEST ones in England. Many, many Chinese students attend Oxford Brookes university. Maybe have a look at that one. 

Good luck with the hedge mustard thing too :)

Sorry, no. Maybe someone from the UK can give the answer here.