Norrington Table
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The Norrington Table is an annual ranking that lists the colleges of the University of Oxford in order of the performance of their undergraduate students on that year's final examinations. It was created in 1962 by Sir Arthur Norrington, who was then president of Trinity College. While the difference between the highest places on the table is usually very slight, the top colleges remain very competitive about their rankings on the Table — their competitiveness has been heightened in recent years by increased media attention on the rankings. The Norrington Table is calculated by awarding 5 points for a student who receives a 1st Class, 3 points for a 2.1, 2 for a 2.2 and 1 for a 3rd, divided by the maximum possible score (i.e. the number of students in that college multiplied by 5), and expressed as a percentage per college.
Previously the university had refused to endorse an official table, leading to inaccuracies (see Criticisms below), so the university finally published its own rankings using examination results from all final year undergraduates in 2005. The corresponding rankings for the University of Cambridge is the Tompkins Table.
Below are the official rankings for 2006:
- Merton College
- Balliol College
- Magdalen College [joint 3rd]
- New College [joint 3rd]
- St John's College
- Christ Church
- Wadham College
- Lincoln College
- Trinity College
- University College
- Corpus Christi College
- Queen's College
- St Edmund Hall
- Worcester College
- Brasenose College
- Somerville College
- Hertford College
- Jesus College
- Lady Margaret Hall
- St Hilda's College
- St Catherine's College
- St Anne's College
- Pembroke College
- St Hugh's College
- Exeter College
- Keble College
- St Peter's College
- Oriel College
- Mansfield College
- Harris Manchester College
[edit] Criticisms
Many find the table unhelpful because it suggests a massive discrepancy between colleges - which could influence applications - even though the variations are often minimal.
Moreover, the table does not account for success in postgraduate examinations, nor for distinctions awarded for Master's degrees. This criticism is underscored by the fact that several of the colleges that appear low on the Norrington Table have the best records of success with their graduate students.
Also, the table is biased towards colleges which have larger than average numbers of students in science subjects such as Chemistry and Mathematics where a higher proportion attain a 1st Class degree compared to arts degrees (where the majority attain a 2.1), a feature in respect of which scores are adjusted in the corresponding Tompkins Table at Cambridge.
There is also a fear that competitive colleges could be unreasonable in demanding students who may miss a 2:1 to be "sent down" (expelled), or those who may miss out on a 1st to defer. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that this happens only extremely rarely, if ever.
Up until 2004, a key criticism was that students were allowed to withdraw their names from the public lists and were thus not counted — Trinity College President Sir Michael Beloff likened this to a Premiership final league table, only with several random results missing. In 2004, in response to this criticism, the University started issuing its own official Norrington Table, which accounted for all degrees issued, including those of people who opted out of the public lists. The rankings published since then, therefore, do not possess this weakness.
