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Issue No 741 | varsity.co.uk
Welcome to the
News p4
best university
Where did your college come in the Tompkins Table? See full scores inside
in the world
Samantha Sharman NEWS CO-EDITOR
The University of Cambridge has enjoyed unprecedented success this year as it topped table after table of university rankings, for both quality and satisfaction alike. The University was named the top university in the world for a second year by the annual QS World University Rankings, leaving Oxford lagging in fifth place. Harvard University lost the top spot to the University of Cambridge last year for the first time since tables began. However, this year Cambridge maintained its global reputation and held on to its position despite a noted dominance in the top 20 from its American competitors. Vice-Chancellor Proffesor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz said: “As one of the world’s leading research universities Cambridge makes a unique contribution to society and to the individual, not just here in the UK but globally. We help to uphold the reputation of the UK as a centre of excellence internationally. “Cambridge is proud of the worldclass education we offer through our colleges and faculties. Our students benefit from intensive tuition, exceptional individual support and some of the best academic facilities in the world, and they have excellent career prospects.” Despite its apparent success on the global stage, the University had previously been beaten in national tables by the University of Oxford. However, this year, the University of Cambridge has taken the number one spot from Oxford in all three of the biggest annual national tables: The Guardian University Guide,
Declared #1 in four university rankings tables Cambridge tops The Sunday Times, The Guardian, the Complete University Guide and the QS world rankings
the Complete University Guide and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. The Guardian awarded the University the top possible score, 100/100. As well as being named the best university overall, Cambridge has pulled ahead of Oxford in a number of specific courses, including Philosophy, Law, Politics, Theology, Mathematics, Classics and Modern Languages. Oxford still maintains its lead in some subjects, including Medicine and Economics. The University of Cambridge also received the top score in the Complete University Guide, which named it the country’s best university for the first time since 2007, and only the second time in a decade. It was also considered best in more than 40% of specific subject ranking tables. The Sunday Times Good University Guide was the most recent university league table to place the University of Cambridge at the top. The Guide also revealed an 83.9% teaching excellence score at the University of Cambridge, in comparison to an 82.6% score at Oxford. John O’Leary, editor of the Good University Guide, described Cambridge as having “by far the greatest breadth of excellence of any university”, and Cambridge led in 31 subject tables out of 62. The tables, he described, also “reassert the stereotype of Cambridge’s dominance in the sciences ”, and it was named top in all science subjects except Medicine. In addition to the University’s clear academic success, it has also excelled in student satisfaction levels. Recent findings from the National Student Survey (NSS), in association with the
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