Good University Guide 2007（U.K）

Oxford and Cambridge continue their intellectual duel at the top of the academic league in the latest edition of The Times Good University Guide, published today. Oxford kept Cambridge in second place for the fifth year running, despite an overwhelming lead for the light blues in the rankings for individual degree subjects. Cambridge came top in 35 out of 44 subject tables in which it appeared, compared with just 8 out of 34 for Oxford. Its strength across the board is reflected in the highest average entry qualifications for students at 525.1 points, equivalent to A grades in four A levels and one AS examination. Oxford’s grip on the top spot is helped largely by higher spending on library and computing facilities and a bigger proportion of students awarded at least a 2:1 degree. Britain’s oldest universities have widened the gap this year, with Imperial College London again ranking third.

Changes to some of the measures in the main table, in particular the introduction of a “student satisfaction” score in place of assessments of teaching quality, have produced greater movement than usual in the rankings this year. The “golden triangle” of Oxford, Cambridge and London accounts for all of the top five places, but there is a surprise entry in sixth place.

Loughborough, which marks its 40th anniversary this year, is the best provincial university for the first time, consolidating its burgeoning reputation since it burst into the top 10 in 2004.

It is ranked in the top 10 in 12 of the individual subject tables in this year’s guide, putting it on a par with the London School of Economics. Entry standards remain appealingly competitive in comparison with other leading universities, though increased demand has pushed up grades. Warwick, long the top dog in the provinces, must settle for eighth this year. With Bath in ninth place, a trio of universities founded during the expansion of the 1960s is firmly established among the country’s educational elite.

More recent entrants to the higher education field can certainly find inspiration in their progress. The range of options available to students continues to grow, with 109 universities listed in this year’s table, compared with 100 in 2005.

New universities include Winchester, which makes its debut in 62nd place, Chichester in 64th, Chester in 68th, Bath Spa in 73rd and Worcester in 82nd. Edge Hill College in Lancashire became Britain’s newest university last month, though it was too late to feature in this year’s guide.

With ministers keen to make it easier for more newcomers to enter the higher education market, students are likely to face an even greater diversity of providers in the future. They need reliable information about what is available, and how good it might be as never before, if they are to make sense of their options.

Edinburgh retains its place as Scotland’s top university, but slips from 5th to 11th overall. St Andrews falls out of the top 10 for the first time since 2003, though demand for places continues to boom even after the departure of Prince William. Almost twice as many students seek places at St Andrews now than before the Prince enrolled. Glasgow is the only other Scottish university in the top 30 this year. Cardiff, in 16th, retains its position as the top university in Wales. Its nearest competitors in the principality are Bangor and Swansea, ranked 42nd and 43rd respectively.

Oxford Brookes reclaims the title of Britain’s top new university, in 54th place, just ahead of Plymouth and Robert Gordon University. Thames Valley reaches an unenviable milestone as the bottom university for the seventh successive year, though entry standards are slightly better than at Luton, which is one place above. Thames Valley has a better graduate employment record than 37 other universities, however.

Bolton, which also gained university status last year, has the lowest entry standards at just 170 UCAS points. However, it also has the poorest record on drop-outs, with only 66 per cent of students expected to complete their courses.

Abertay Dundee, East London, Sunderland, Thames Valley and Paisley universities all have drop-out rates in excess of 30 per cent. For the third successive year, London Metropolitan University has refused to release data and so does not appear in the table. Students are entitled to ask what it has to hide.

A policy of secrecy hardly sits well with the need to demonstrate value for money in the new era of increased fees.

Some well known names do not appear. The Open University and Birkbeck College do not cater for full-time undergraduates and Cranfield University and the London Business School serve mainly postgraduates.

The Top Universities 2007 League Table (See Graphic: University table key) ranks universities by measuring nine key aspects of activity. Scores were weighted by 1.5 for student satisfaction and research assessment. The totals for all universities were transformed to a scale where the top score was set at 1,000, with those for the remaining universities being a proportion of that score. If a university was missing any data, the total score was based on the data available.

Student satisfaction: a view of the learning experience at the university, taken from the National Student Survey in 2005. It is a measure of student opinion, not a direct measure of quality. Scottish universities were not included and a small number of English ones had insufficient data.

Research assessment: average quality of research, from the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.

Entry standards: average full UCAS tariff score of new students under 21, from the HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) in 2003/04. At A level, an A grade is 120 points, B 100, C 80, D 60, and E 40. AS grades are worth half.

Student-staff ratio: average number of students per staff member, taken from HESA data for 2003/04.

Library/computing spend: average expenditure per student on library and computing facilities, from HESA data between 2001 and 2004.

Facilities spend: average expenditure per student on facilities such as sports, careers services, health and counselling, from HESA data between 2001 and 2004.

Good honours: percentage of graduates achieving a first or upper second class degree, from HESA data for 2003-04.

Graduate prospects: percentage of UK graduates in “graduate” employment or further study, from HESA data for 2003-04.Only occupations that normally need a degree were included.

Completion: percentage of students expected to graduate, including those who transfer to other institutions to complete courses, mainly from HESA data for 2003/04 and earlier years.

Institution	Satis	Res	Entry	Stud:staff	Lib	Facil	Good hons	Prosp	Complet	Total
1 Oxford	-	6.5	511.7	13	1656	364	88.4	74.8	97.7	1000
2 Cambridge	-	6.6	525.1	11.9	1129	425	84.6	86.9	98.9	973
3 Imperial College	14.4	6.4	468.2	9.4	1230	481	75	83.8	96	878
4 London School of Economics	15.1	6.4	466.9	13.4*	1106*	186*	74.4	81.5	95.5	855
5 University College London	15.3	6	410.8	8.4	1152	172	73.6	78.1	93.4	819
6 Loughborough	16.1	5.1	362.5	18.5	667	355	64.7	70.7	92.5	795
7 Bristol	15.2	5.7	405.9	14.4	768	272	80.8	79.8	95.5	792
8 Warwick	-	6	447.6*	16.4	853	203	78.2	70.2*	94.9	791
9 Bath	15	5.7	403.4	17.3	597	417	75.2	79.8	96.1	786
10 Durham	15.4	5.7	454.9	21.2	747	326	74.6	72.4	95.1	778
11 Edinburgh	-	5.6	414.8	14.2	890	233	77.7	70.7	91.9	774
12 Royal Holloway	15.5	5.7	345.3	14.1	549	311	66.5	67.3	93.8	761
13 Aston	14.9	5	328.3	15	921	356	69.4	76	90.9	758
14 Nottingham	14.9	5.3	429.1	16.2	799	332	75.3	71	95.2	754
15 York	15.5	5.8	435.9	15.8	653	199	69.9	66	95.1	750
16 Cardiff	15.2	5.4	371.1	13	758	238	68.6	73.5	94.8	740
17 King's College London	15.1	5.5	393.7	12	954	156	70.7	81.1	92.9	733
18 Leicester	15.7	5	351.9	17.1	570	395	64.3	66.2	95.6	732
18 SOAS	14.6	5.5	328.6	9.8	1143	175	75.9	74.5	87.4	732
18 St Andrews	-	5.7	430.5	14.3	587	200	75.1	65.7	97.6	732
21 Lancaster	15.6	5.8	359.2	15.8*	637	254	64.9	54.4	94.6	716
22 Southampton	14.9	5.8	386.5	16	729	252	69.2	70.3	92.3	712
23 East Anglia	15.6	5.4	365.3*	17	604	353	66.9	58.8	86.7	708
24 Sheffield	15.2	5.5	405.3	15.7	613	231	72.4	68.6	90.4	703
25 Newcastle	14.9	5.2	384.6	16.9	774	312	65.8	68	93	699
26 Manchester	14.6	5.7	396.3	14.2	819	263	70	66.8	92.3	694
27 Sussex	14.7	5.5	365.7	12.1	650	296	71.5	59	89.4	689
28 Exeter	15.3	5.2	369.1	17	608	182*	69.6	61.8	93.8	678
28 Glasgow	-	5.2	392.6	13.6	688	219	69.6	66.3	85.8	678
30 Essex	15.2	5.6	308.7	14.6	643	307	55.4	62.8	85.7	677
31 Reading	15.4	5.3	341.5	15.9	587	223	64.8	58.9	90.2	671
32 Queen's, Belfast	15.2	4.9	350.4	17.3	473	358	62.9	72.3	87.3	670
33 Birmingham	14.8	5.3	380.3	17.1	701	220	68.9*	68.1	92.8	666
34 Kent	15.3	4.8	316.4	15.4	648	189	60.3	66.6	86.8	661
34 Leeds	14.8	5.3	374.7	17.9	635	196	71.5	70.2	91.7	661
36 Aberdeen	-	4.7	348.5	14.1	759	211	65.5	70.1	81.8	653
37 Stirling	-	4.8	341.8	15.3	634	238	67.3	55.8	85.5	647
38 Surrey	14.3	5.4	325.5	16.8	550	275	59.1	79.5	88.5	639
39 Liverpool	14.9	5.2	351.2	16	491	154	63.7	72.7	92.7	627
40 Strathclyde	-	4.7	381.9	18	572	167	68.9	69.3	83	619
41 Queen Mary	14.9	5	314.1	12.1	643	173	57.6	71.6	90	615
42 Bangor	15.4	4.7	285.6*	16.6	748	205	54.0*	64.4*	82.9	611
43 Swansea	15.3	4.6	288.1	16.9	520	225	56.8	60.5	89.6	600
44 Dundee	-	5.1	340	15.7*	503	179	61.7	71.9	83.1	596
45 Goldsmiths College	15.3	5.3	295.5	20.1	530	173	60.9	57.8	82.4	595
46 Aberystwyth	15.5	4.5	299.4	20.8	540	277	59	50.3	89.4	594
47 Bradford	15	4.4	268.2	16.1	542	291	59.9	72.7	81.2	593
48 Heriot-Watt	-	4.7	362.7**	17.3	525	268	60.5	57.9	80.9	588
49 Hull	15.3	4.3	283.7*	18.6	434	177	59.2	64.3	86.7	579
50 Brunel	14	4.3	303.2	18	608	305	66	63.9	86.4	565
51 Ulster	14.9	3.8	262.9	19.5	584	227	61.5	63.4	82.6	550
52 Keele	14.9	4.6	309.3	17.3	431	100	53.2	64.8	90	548
53 City	-	4.4	314.7	22.3	439	154	59.9	74.7	84.5	544
54 Oxford Brookes	14.8	2.8	282.6	16.2	393	306	55.1	67.6	79.8	531
55 Plymouth	14.9	3.2	262.7	17.6	493	235	56	56.4	83.9	520
56 Robert Gordon	-	1.9	305.9	18.6	510*	143*	54.4*	75.9	80.6	513
57 Abertay Dundee	-	2	226.2	20.6	1318	108	52.6	74.3	66.9**	512
58 Northumbria	14.7	2.3	272.1*	20.4	673	250	53.3	63.3	82	507
59 Brighton	14.6	2.9	266.1*	18.1	512	193	57.9	65.2*	79.8	504
60 Nottingham Trent	14.6	2.8	275.9	20.5*	611	145*	55.8	63.4	84.1	497
61 UWIC, Cardiff	14.5	2.7	243	20.6	439	395	50.7	57	82.5	490
62 Winchester	15.4	2.5	264.4	21.9	476	164	59.2	48.3	86.7	486
63 Central England	14.2	2.2	242.2	16.6	536	327	60.4*	62.1	81.6	483
64 Chichester	15.6	2.1	238.9	21.6	452	126	46.3	65	86.2	482
65 Salford	14.5	4.3	249.3	17.9	454	235	52.9	56.4	78.9	479
66 Lampeter	15.8	4.7	245.5	24.6	383	142	59.1	52.1	76.4	478
67 West of England	14.5	2.8	266.5	19.8	503	223	55.2	60.1	84	473
68 Chester	15.6	1.6	251.5	20	441	210	44.9	49.3	84.6	469
69 Bournemouth	14.3	1.9	277	18.3	340	87	61.7	57.2	85.1	465
70 Roehampton	14.6	3.2	229.2	21.2	610	362	50.1	49.7	82.3	463
71 Glasgow Caledonian	-	2.5	306.1	17.6	473	91	58.3	57.9	81.6**	460
72 Central Lancashire	14.9	2.2	252	22.8	406	266	50.8	59.6	80.2	459
73 Bath Spa	15.5	2.5	249.2	24.2	337	104	60	47	87	454
74 Glamorgan	15.1	2.4	215.1	19.2	496	245	49.7	57.6	73.7**	451
74 Staffordshire	14.8	2.2	235.8	18.1	671	183	47.7	54.3	77.2	451
76 Coventry	14.7	2.1	228.8	20.6	527	239	55.2	61.4	79.4	447
76 Portsmouth	14.6	3.2	247.8	19.3	438	147	45.5	65.2	80.1	447
78 Gloucestershire	14.7	3	229.4	18.2	419	247	43.9	54.5	81.3	446
78 Napier	-	2.3	263.8	17.4	512	147	59.2	57.9	70.2	446
80 UWCN, Newport	14.7	3	216.8	19.7	449	255	54.2	55	76.1	444
80 Sheffield Hallam	14.3	3	264.3	24.9	451	232	53	61.4	86.4	444
82 Worcester	15.3	1.4	233.1	20.9	355	216	41.8	59.4	81.6	432
83 Liverpool John Moores	14.9	2.6	207.4	17.8	473	154	47.9	60.6	76.2	430
84 Univ of the Arts, London	13.7	4.7	345.1	26.6	421	123	54.6	47.5	86.9	427
85 Hertfordshire	14.3	2.5	225.4	18.1	522	161	49.9	64.8	80.7	425
86 Canterbury Christ Church	15.4	1.9	239.2	20.7	394	83	46.5	62.8	83.7	420
87 Anglia Ruskin	14.6	1.5	233.4	19.6	444	161	56.1	61.8	78	418
87 Bolton	15	1.5	170	18.3	466	345	50.9	63.9	66.6	418
89 Kingston	14.3	2.7	207.2	20.4	547	154	50.4	66.1	81	417
90 Huddersfield	15	2.4	232.3	20.2	401	126	47.6	57.1	77.9	413
90 Leeds Metropolitan	14.3	2.2	251.4	23.5	478	134	49.4	62.5	84.6	413
92 Sunderland	14.3	2.8	233.5	17.5	378	203	51.7	61.5	68.3	410
93 East London	-	2.5	191.7	21	614	487	39.6	55.8	67	409
94 Westminster	14.3	2.8	217.8	17.6	457	179	55.8	50.9	74.4	395
95 Teesside	15	1.9	224.3	20.8*	366	125	45.7	61.9	75.2	390
96 Liverpool Hope	15.2	1.3	208	26	407*	97	48.8*	69.5	76	389
96 Manchester Metropolitan	14.4	2.9	261.5	22.5	467	131	47.2	57.1	78.8	389
96 Middlesex	13.8	2.7	200	22.6	726	322	50.5	55.8	73.3	389
99 De Montfort	14.4	3.1	237.7	20.7	489	123	38.5	61	80	382
99 Wolverhampton	14.7	2	199.5	22.5	499	362	50	50.9	73.3**	382
101 London South Bank	-	2.9	192.3	19.7	478	96	52.9	65.8	72	370
102 Paisley	-	1.6	265.3	20.2	729	210	45.8	52.1	69.1	367
103 Northampton	14.7	1.7	219	22.2	371	135	53.7	51.8	80.5	359
104 Lincoln	14.5	1.7	249.2	26.4	538	159	49.3	45	81.4	347
105 Derby	14.4	1.5	218.3	22.5	585	137	47	55.6	72.5	336
106 Greenwich	14.2	2.5	200.6	25.8	482	149	47.4	62.7	71.9	325
107 Southampton Solent	-	0.9	224.6	30.2	605	283	41.6	47.9	78.6	321
108 Luton	14.1	1.8	185.7	23.2	606	229	48.4	41.7	74.8	302
109 Thames Valley	-	0.5	202.5	23.7	398	57	48.8	60.1	68.6	281

* Institution provided own data
** Data used from previous year For the third year running, London Metropolitan refused to allow the release of data, and so it does not appear in this table

原作者:Tony Halpin