UniversityGuide2015 620

University guide 2012: download the Guardian tables and see how the rankings have changed

The Guardian University guide and ranking for 2012 is out. See what the data says and how it's changed

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Guardian University guide 2012: how the rankings have changed. Click image for full graphic

The latest Guardian University Guide tables show that Cambridge University has taken the top spot, breaking its arch-rival Oxford's six-year stint as the UK's leading institution.

Oxford has come second and St Andrews third, while the London School
of Economics has climbed four places from last year to take fourth place. University College London, Warwick, Lancaster, Durham, Loughborough and Imperial College make up the top 10.

The tables are based on data for full-time undergraduates at UK universities.

Universities with low rankings are almost as likely to be intending to charge maximum tuition fees of £9,000 in 2012 as those with high rankings, our analysis suggests.

London Metropolitan University, which comes bottom of the Guardian tables, intends to charge between £4,500 and £9,000 for its degrees from autumn 2012. Salford, Liverpool John Moores, Manchester Metropolitan and the University of East London – all of which rank in the bottom 20 of the Guardian tables – want to charge £9,000 for at least some of their courses.

From autumn 2012, universities in England will be allowed to charge up to £9,000 a year for undergraduate degrees. The government's access watchdog, the Office for Fair Access, is looking at the fees each university in England wants to charge and will announce in July whether it approves of institutions' plans.

The tables were compiled by independent consultancy firm Intelligent Metrix. It's based originally on information collected by Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the National Student Survey, published by Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).

We've also mashed in some data of our own, including the full planned tuition fees, drop-out rates and student numbers.

Here are some of the key numbers:

• 38 of the universities in the top 60 will charge the full £9,000 tuition fee in 2012 - and 18 of those in the bottom 60
• The universities in the top 20 are bigger than those in the bottom 20 - with an average of 8,927 undergraduates, compared to 6,015
• The student staff ratio of the universities in the top 20 is less than that in the bottom 20 - 14.2 students to every tutor, compared to 21.54

You can download the full data below (plus the banding boundaries, for those who want them) - what can you do with it?

Data summary

University guide 2012

Click heading to sort table. Download this data

2012 Rank
2011
Institution
Ave Teac Score
Exp. per student / 10
Student: staff ratio
Uni group
2012 max tuition fee
1 2 Cambridge 100.0 9.76 11.7 Russell 9,000
2 1 Oxford 97.9 10 10.8 Russell 9,000
3 4 St Andrews 85.3 7.25 13.3 1994 Group  
4 8 London School of Economics 84.7 8.45 11.8 Russell  
5 5 UCL 82.5 8.43 9.7 Russell 9,000
6 3 Warwick 81.8 8.56 14.1 Russell 9,000
7 6 Lancaster 79.1 7.49 13.8 1994 Group 9,000
8 17 Durham 77.2 6.14 15.3 1994 Group 9,000
9 9 Loughborough 75.5 5.8 17.1 1994 Group 9,000
10 7 Imperial College 74.1 8.54 10.9 Russell 9,000
11 14 Exeter 73.8 4.97 20.0 1994 Group 9,000
11 15 Sussex 73.8 4.64 16.1 1994 Group 9,000
13 11 SOAS 73.7 7.02 11.1 1994 Group 9,000
14 13 Bath 73.6 5.33 16.1 1994 Group 9,000
15 9 York 72.7 6.63 14.9 1994 Group  
16 15 Edinburgh 70.6 8.64 14.4 Russell  
17 12 Leicester 70.4 6.78 14.7 1994 Group 9,000
18 19 UEA 69.8 7.12 14.9 1994 Group 9,000
19 20 Surrey 69.5 7.15 19.0 1994 Group 9,000
19 21 Nottingham 69.5 6.39 14.2 Russell 9,000
21 23 Glasgow 69.2 6.47 14.5 Russell  
22 24 City 68.8 7.53 17.6   9,000
23 27 Kent 68.3 6.31 14.4   9,000
24 30 Birmingham 68.1 7.86 15.4 Russell 9,000
25 33 Bristol 67.9 6.32 13.5 Russell 9,000
26 22 Dundee 67.8 6 14.3    
27 32 Heriot-Watt 67.7 7.31 19.1    
28 18 Southampton 67.1 6.24 13.6 Russell 9,000
29 25 Strathclyde 66.9 6.16 18.0    
30 25 King's College London 66.6 6.35 12.0 Russell 9,000
31 37 Newcastle 66.3 5.55 15.3 Russell 9,000
32 45 Reading 65.4 5.87 15.5 1994 Group 9,000
33 31 Sheffield 64.5 4.83 14.9 Russell 9,000
34 36 Aston 64.2 5.9 17.1   9,000
35 41 Royal Holloway 63.7 4.83 15.7 1994 Group 9,000
36 46 Queen Mary 63.6 6.34 13.6 1994 Group 9,000
37 35 Leeds 63.0 6.28 14.9 Russell 9,000
38 27 Robert Gordon 62.6 4.23 19.0    
39 43 Essex 61.5 6.22 15.6 1994 Group 9,000
39 46 Cardiff 61.5 5.96 15.0 Russell  
41 51 Manchester 61.4 7.86 15.4 Russell 9,000
42 38 Bournemouth 60.8 6.94 23.6 University Alliance 9,000
42 48 Oxford Brookes 60.8 4.94 18.1 University Alliance 9,000
44 27 Stirling 60.7 4.25 19.3    
45 33 Aberdeen 60.3 5.22 15.8    
46 40 UC Falmouth 60.2 5.95 23.5 Ukadia/ Guild HE 9,000
47 49 Plymouth 60.1 7.21 16.5 University Alliance 9,000
48 52 Sunderland 59.7 6.7 15.8 Million + 8,500
49 39 Liverpool 59.3 6.66 13.2 Russell 9,000
50 49 Aberystwyth 58.8 4.77 18.1 University Alliance 9,000
50 56 Queen's, Belfast 58.8 5.6 14.8 Russell  
52 55 Edinburgh Napier 58.5 3.58 21.6 Million +  
53 54 Huddersfield 58.0 4.45 18.4 University Alliance 7,950
54 44 Keele 57.3 4.4 14.5   9,000
55 67 Northumbria 56.9 4.51 20.3 University Alliance 8,500
56 63 Queen Margaret 56.5 2.59 21.7    
57 72 Lincoln 56.3 3.43 19.7 University Alliance 9,000
58 42 Chichester 56.2 3.34 16.6   8,500
59 62 UWE Bristol 55.5 3.82 20.7 University Alliance  
60 79 Teesside 55.2 5.2 19.5 University Alliance 8,500
61 64 Gloucestershire 55.1 5.3 20.6 Million + 8,250
62 58 Goldsmiths 54.9 3.8 17.6 1994 Group 9,000
63 87 Coventry 54.5 3.33 15.7 Million + 9,000
63 94 Northampton 54.5 5.22 22.9 Million +  
65 71 Sheffield Hallam 54.2 4.43 19.8 University Alliance 8,500
65 67 Bath Spa 54.2 4.07 21.1 Million + 9,000
67 53 Nottingham Trent 53.9 4.53 19.7 University Alliance  
68 76 Glamorgan 53.7 4.6 20.2 University Alliance  
69 96 Winchester 53.6 2.52 17.7 Guild HE 8,500
70 69 Central Lancashire 53.4 5.89 18.4 Million + 9,000
71 57 UWIC 53.1 4.1 20.7 University Alliance  
72 60 Hertfordshire 52.9 4 18.5 University Alliance 8,500
73 78 Brighton 52.8 4.55 18.8   9,000
74 79 Glasgow Caledonian 52.5 3.85 20.9 University Alliance  
75 112 Middlesex 52.2 7.23 21.0 Million + 9,000
75 59 Hull 52.2 4.55 20.1   9,000
77 69 Staffordshire 51.9 5.66 21.7 Million +  
78 88 Edge Hill 50.9 3.26 18.5   9,000
79 65 Bangor 50.8 5.35 20.7    
80 79 Chester 50.5 3.29 17.2   9,000
81 77 Thames Valley 50.2 7.74   Million +  
82 86 St Mary's UC, Twickenham 50.1 2.29 22.1 Guild HE 8,000
82 75 Brunel 50.1 4.32 20.2    
84 110 Leeds Trinity University College 50.0 2.08 22.8 Guild HE 8,000
85 85 Portsmouth 49.9 4.94 20.5 University Alliance 8,500
86 74 Bradford 49.4 5.16 17.5 University Alliance 9,000
87 105 Westminster 49.0 3.99 17.1   9,000
88 79 Ulster 48.9 4.07 17.0    
89 83 Cumbria 48.7 5.6 15.3 Guild HE 8,400
90 66 Birmingham City 48.4 5.34 20.9 Million +  
91 84 Anglia Ruskin 47.8 7.7 22.7 Million + 8,300
92 98 Kingston 47.5 4.45 19.9 Million + 9,000
93 73 De Montfort 47.3 3.91 17.5 University Alliance 9,000
94 91 Derby 47.1 4.05 20.5 Million + 7,995
94 93 Swansea 47.1 3.93 16.5    

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DATA: download the full spreadsheet
Banding boundaries (xls)

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Guardian University guide 2012

Guardian University guide 2012: how the rankings have changed. Illustration: Jenny Ridley for the Guardian

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