UK's Top Universities 2000 / FT League Table
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How to read the FT league table
By Parminder Bahra

FT League TableThe FT 100 league table, published today for the third year, is a snapshot of university performance across 16 categories, from A-level entry requirements to library expenditure.

The figures are drawn from published statistics, which have been collected by government and official agencies - the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, and the higher education funding councils for England, Wales and Scotland.

The HESA data covers the 1997/98 academic year, the latest year for which national figures are available. This data, which is supplied to HESA by the universities, has been used for all but three of the categories. The various agencies played no part in compiling the FT 100 league table and cannot be held responsible for any of the conclusions drawn from the statistics.

The FT 100 table measures performance on a relative - not an absolute - basis. The top university is awarded a maximum of 100 points and the rest receive a proportion of this figure, depending on their score. For easy reference, the table shows the actual - rather than the relative - score. The categories have been weighted according to importance.

The 1999 ranking is a revised version of the one published last year. Last year, due to an error, the published table was based on only 13 criteria instead of the full 16.

The A-level points category shows the average UCAS points achieved by students admitted by a university in 1996/97. The "applications to places" category shows that ratio in 1997/98, the same as last year. This is because the most recent data was not available.

The research score is an average of the marks achieved during the most recent nationwide research assessment exercise.

The teaching score has been updated to include the new assessments. Only departments assessed in the new numbered format - where an institution is awarded up to 24 marks - are included. In Wales and Scotland, different non-number systems are used with departments graded "excellent", "highly satisfactory", "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory".

Employment is the only new category in this year's survey. The statistics were compiled using HESA data on the percentage of graduates entering employment, and data on the universities targeted by companies from the survey of members of the Association of Graduate Recruiters. The first class category represents the number of first class degrees as a percentage of all classified degrees.

The final four categories, on university resources, have been presented in two formats: the total figure and the figure taking account of full-time equivalent staff or students.

Download the full FT League Table in pdf format

Britain's Top 100 Universities - Summary
Rank  University Name FT Score
1 The University of Cambridge 80.52
2 The University of Oxford 79.42
3 Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine 74.01
4 University College London 68.42
5 London School of Economics and Political Science 65.53
6 The University of Bristol 62.83
7 The University of Nottingham 61.16
8 The University of Bath 61.15
9 The University of Warwick 60.97
10 Kings College London 60.78
11 The University of Edinburgh 60.30
12 The University of Manchester Institute of Science 60.09
13 The School of Oriental and Arfican Studies 59.78
14 The University of York 59.65
15 The University of Birmingham 58.36
16 The University of Leeds 57.02
17 The University of Glasgow 57.02
18 The Victoria University of Manchester 56.86
19 The University of Southampton 56.72
20 The University of St Andrews 56.70
21 The University of Sheffield 56.29
22 Loughborough University 55.88
23 The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 55.86
24 The University of Durham 55.76
25 The University of Essex 55.64
26 The University of Leicester 55.46
27 The University of Lancaster 55.38
28 Queen Mary and Westfield College 55.29
29 University of Wales, Cardiff 54.94
30 The University of Sussex 54.85
31 Royal Holloway and Bedford New College 54.85
32 The University of Aberdeen 54.12
33 The Queen's University of Belfast 53.89
34 The University of Reading 53.80
35 Herriot-Watt University 52.99
36 The University of Liverpool 52.98
37 The University of Surrey 52.80
38 The University of Strathclyde 52.68
39 The University of Dundee 52.39
40 The University of Exeter 51.85
41 The University of Kent at Canterbury 51.00
42 University of Wales, Aberystwyth 49.66
43 The University of Hull 49.54
44 The University of East Anglia 49.41
45 University of Wales, Swansea 49.19
46 City University 48.88
47 The University of Aston in Birmingham 48.84
48 The University of Keele 48.72
49 University College of North Wales, Bangor 48.58
50 The University of Stirling 47.98
51 Brunel University 47.57
52 The University of Bradford 46.84
53 University of Ulster 46.63
54 University University of Wales, Lampeter 46.21
55 The Robert Gordon University 44.71
56 Goldsmiths College 44.07
57 The University of Salford 43.58
58 The University of Westminster 42.77
59 Oxford Brookes University 41.93
60 University of Hertfordshire 40.93
61 The University of Greenwich 40.43
62 Sheffield Hallam University 40.43
63 Napier University 40.13
64 The Nottingham Trent University 40.03
65 The University of Portsmouth 39.86
66 De Montfort University 39.60
67 Liverpool John Moores University 39.10
68 University of the West of England, Bristol 38.94
69 Kingston University 38.94
70 The Manchester Metropolitan University 38.72
71 Middlesex University 38.46
72 The University of Plymouth 38.45
73 The University of Northumbria at Newcastle 38.26
74 The University of North London 37.91
75 The University of Brighton 37.79
76 South Bank University 37.62
77 The University of Huddersfield 37.50
78 The University of East London 37.28
79 Staffordshire University 37.23
80 The University of Sunderland 36.76
81 University of Glamorgan 36.71
82 Leeds Metropolitan University 36.68
83 The University of Central England in Birmingham 36.68
84 Thames Valley University 36.66
85 The University of Central Lancashire 36.30
86 Anglia Polytechnic University 36.19
87 Glasgow Caledonian University 35.86
88 University of Abertay Dundee 35.75
89 University of Luton 35.71
90 London Guildhall University 35.25
91 The University of Wolverhampton 34.86
92 Coventry University 34.61
93 The University of Paisley 34.41
94 The University of Lincolnshire ad Humberside 34.02
95 The University of Teesside 33.47
96 The University of Derby 33.37
97 Bournemouth University 32.45

Leagues of their own
  A-level points Applications to places
1 Cambridge Bristol
2 Oxford LSE
3 Imperial Nottingham
4 LSE Bath
5 Edinburgh Sheffield
6 Bristol City
7 Nottingham KCL
8 Warwick York
9 UCL Manchester
10 St Andrews Warwick
  Student/Staff (total) ratio Research
1 Imperial Cambridge
2 Cambridge Oxford
3 Oxford Imperial
4 UCL LSE
5 KCL UCL
6 Bristol Warwick
7 Edinburgh KCL
8 QMW Bristol
9 Dundee Bath
10 Newcastle-upon-Tyne SOAS
  Teaching 1st Class
1 Cambridge Cambridge
2 Loughborough Imperial
3 Oxford Oxford
4 Imperial UMIST
5 York LSE
6 Kingston Glasgow
7 Warwick UCL
8 West of England Edinburgh
9 SOAS Bristol
10 Hull Bath
  Employment % of graduates entering
prof. training
1 Cambridge Wales, Lampeter
2 Oxford Oxford
3 Imperial Lancaster
4 UMIST Queen's
5 Manchester Aberdeen
6 Loughborough Hull
7 Leeds Cardiff
8 Warwick St Andrews
9 Bath Aberystwyth
10 Aston Cambridge
  % of graduates entering
higher degree		 % postgraduates
(research)
1 Essex Cambridge
2 Imperial UCL
3 LSE Oxford
4 Cambridge SOAS
5 Oxford Imperial
6 Aberystwyth Birmingham
7 St Andrews Aberdeen
8 Queen's KCL
9 UCL Bristol
10 York Sussex
  % postgraduates
(taught)		 % overeas students
1 City LSE
2 Leicester SOAS
3 Strathclyde Essex
4 Reading UMIST
5 Warwick Imperial
6 Surrey UCL
7 Bath Thames Valley
8 OAS Kent
9 Westminster RHBNC
10 Heriot-Watt Oxford
  Income from industry/FTE Income for research/FTE
1 Robert Gordon UCL
2 UMIST Imperial
3 Heriot-Watt Oxford
4 Nottingham Cambridge
5 Aston Southampton
6 Leeds KCL
7 Loughborough Edinburgh
8 Imperial York
9 Southampton Glasgow
10 Bristol Nottingham
  Computer expenditure/FTES Library expenditure/FTES
1 Nottingham Oxford
2 Edinburgh Cambridge
3 Bath SOAS
4 Heriot-Watt Imperial
5 LSE Hertfordshire
6 Imperial LSE
7 Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle-upon-Tyne
8 SOAS UCL
9 Plymouth Warwick
10 Oxford Dundee
Download the full FT League Table in pdf format
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