Anyway, nobody thinks that the Times Guide is accurate and the new ranking system is deliberately engineered to make “their” type of universities seem better, according to the common conspiracy theory. In which case it is irrelevant how we rank but how we either get prospective students to make their choice or how we change the way in which universities are ranked.

12th (5 above are University of London and one is “School of African and Oriental Studies, though) on staff-student ratio, 7th on Research Quality, top 25 on facilities spending, top 10 on numbers completing etc…

But those that have stricter exams, like us, end up lower on the list and the completion is surely down to the students and not the institution? It seems strange to me that we should be down there. I’ve never seen St Andrew’s ranked higher than us on a good league table.

Their graduate prospects and student satisfaction are the only things higher - by their own rankings we’re the better at educating and researching, and even spend more (though I’m not sure why that is the criteria. Spending isn’t always reflective of quality)…

So if my preference is finding a good all round University that has a very good Student Education Finance program, then it’s clear to see where my priority of Choosing a university will be.