League tables of British universities

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League Tables of British Universities, which rank the performances of universities in the United Kingdom on a number of criteria, have been published every year by The Times newspaper since the early 1990s. The factors used to assess universities include quality of teaching and research (which are assessed by external inspectors), entry standards and dropout rates. These league tables have become increasingly popular over the last few years and several other papers such as The Guardian and The Sunday Times now publish their own tables annually. These tables are often used by students when deciding which universities to apply to. Some league tables are more specific, ranking universities on their strength in individual subjects, and not just overall teaching and research across a range of subjects.

Although the various tables differ slightly in how they assess universities, the same names tend to dominate the top positions. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have typically headed the lists, based on their superior funding and prestige (stemming from the fact that they have significantly longer histories than other English universities). This allows them to attract some of the country's best students, lecturers and researchers. Cambridge has generally fared better, claiming first place in most of the newspapers' tables, with Oxford normally in second position. Oxford has recently been top of some lists though, based on differences in the way some league tables are now calculated. For example, The Times has begun to put more emphasis on facilities spending, and Cambridge has come off worse because more of Oxford's money goes through the central university, whereas at Cambridge the individual colleges have a bigger share of the spending and this is not taken into account. On the other hand, The Sunday Times, which compiles its own tables using slightly modified criteria has placed Cambridge top for nine years running up to 2006.

Third place is consistently taken by either Imperial College London or the LSE. It is difficult to form a list of other high-achieving universities without irritating students at institutions that have been left off the list. However, a list of universities that have been in the overall Top 10 in all three big rankings (The Times, The Sunday Times and The Guardian) for the last two years includes: Cambridge, Imperial, the LSE, King's College London , Oxford, University College London, the University of Warwick and the University of York. An independent analysis by the Sutton Trust has calculated the top thirteen British universities based on newspaper league table rankings over the last few years. The list included all of the above plus Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh, Nottingham and St. Andrews. It should be noted that inclusion in the overall top ten does not indicate excellence in any particular field, and some universities with a very good reputation for specific subjects never enter the overall top ten.

Traditionally the post-1992 universities have done less well in these rankings. However, in recent years some of the new universities have steadily moved up the league tables and can now be found in the top half of all universities. For example, in The Guardian 2004 tables, Middlesex was ranked 19th overall, and Oxford Brookes was ranked 26th. The Open University is ranked fifth of all UK universities for teaching quality in the Sunday Times University Guide 2004; a ranking higher than those for Oxford and University College London. However the Open University is often excluded from league tables due to information about drop out rates and student progression not being available.