The University of Cambridge has grabbed the top spot in this year’s Guardian University Guide league table, slithering past its arch rival Oxford’s record six-year stint as the UK’s top educational institution. Oxford has been pushed to the second spot, followed by St Andrews, while the London School of Economics has climbed four places from last year to take the fourth place. University College London, Warwick, Lancaster, Durham, Loughborough, and Imperial College make up the top 10.

Birmingham City University has dropped the  most in terms of ranking since last year––24 places, from 66th to 90th––while Middlesex is the biggest climber, reaching 75th place this year compared with 112th last year. Durham has risen from 17th place to the 8th.
Although the oldest universities dominate the top positions, the newest have improved their rankings since last year. Winchester has leapt from 96th place to 69th.

The University Guide, published in full on the Guardian website, is based on data for full-time undergraduates at UK universities. The rankings are complied based on different criteria such as how much the universities  spend per student; their student-staff ratio; the career prospects of their graduates; what grades applicants need; a value-added score that compares the academic achievements of first-years and their final degree results; and how content final-year students are with their courses, and so on. The tables, compiled by Intelligent Metrix, an independent consultancy firm, are weighted in favor of the National Student Survey. As part of the survey, final-year students are asked to score their universities for overall satisfaction, feedback, and contact hours. Other league tables concentrate more on research ratings.

The overall league table includes separate tables showing the ratings of the universities for each subject and another table for specialist institutions.

In this year’s rankings, Cambridge has overtaken Oxford in philosophy, law, politics, theology, mathematics, classics, anthropology, and modern languages. However, Oxford withheld Cambridge in psychology and also came top in chemistry, business and management, and art and design. Loughborough is best for sports science, while King’s College London is top for dentistry. University College London topped the table for English, while Trinity Laban Conservatoire excelled in drama and dance. Northumbria has shot up the table for modern languages, from 48th last year to 3rd this year.

The tables also denote the huge variation in how much universities spend per student, with an average of £3,428 in 2009–10 (a fall from the £3,495 the year before). At Oxford, average money spent per student fell to £11,232 in 2009–10 from £11,410 the year before, which is still more than what is spent by other institutions. Cambridge spent £8,612 in 2009–10, a rise from £8,118 the year before.

The more a university spends on each student, the more likely it is to have a high ranking, the less the number of dropouts, and the more satisfied its students seem. However, some universities that do not teach expensive courses, such as engineering, were also taken into account for evaluation.