Oxford and Cambridge Rivalry - University Rankings

University Rankings

Over the last few years, British universities have been subjected to the increasing popularity of national university league tables, which rank universities based on criteria such as their student-staff ratio, drop-out rates and spending on services and facilities. Oxford and Cambridge have been a constant presence at the top end of the tables, never appearing outside the overall top three and rarely not holding the first and second places, but their dominance in individual subjects has been challenged by other institutions.

As of 2012, Cambridge has been ranked above Oxford in three out of the four major UK university league tables. Cambridge has been ranked 1st and Oxford 2nd in the tables compiled by the Guardian, and The Sunday Times, and 3rd behind the London School of Economics in the The Complete University Guide, whereas Oxford is ranked 1st and Cambridge 2nd in The Times Good University Guide.

International league tables of universities across the world, which use a variety of different criteria (often research output in the sciences and reputation among peer institutions), have also generally favoured Cambridge over Oxford; for example the 2010 U.S. News & World Report's World's Best Universities ranking placed Cambridge as 1st in the world and Oxford the 6th. The Academic Ranking of World Universities produced in China ranked Cambridge 5th in the world in 2010 and ranked Oxford 10th.

However, there are exceptions to this trend, such as the International 2012 Times Higher Education rankings, in which Oxford is ranked 4th globally and Cambridge 6th.