College improves in Guardian League Tables

Imperial College have moved up four places to 5th in the latest Guardian University League Table. The college overtook Universities such as Surrey, London School of Economics, University College London and Durham. The Guardian’s league table is based on numerous factors, including Student to staff ratio, average spending per student, average grades required for attendance and graduate prospects. The College’s graduate prospects were ranked highest in the country, but the College’s average student satisfaction was lower than those of its closest rivals. The College’s “average entry tariff”, which is a ranking that the Guardian gives based on a university’s average minimum exam grades for entry was ranked as third in the country, behind Oxford and Cambridge.

This new league table is the latest in a string of tables that suggest that Cambridge has not only consolidated, but is now increasing the gap between it and the chasing pack. Cambridge registered first, with Oxford second and St Andrew’s third. Bath jumped from seventh to fourth, whilst Surrey (sixth), Warwick (ninth) and Lancaster (tenth) all registered improvements. Durham (eighth) and the London School of Economics (seventh) fell in the table. UCL was the biggest casualty in the list, as it lost its top ten place and now sits in lowly eleventh in the table, a drop of six places.