Cambridge stumbles as odd couple Stanford and Manchester stride ahead

The precise science of university rankings never ceases to amaze.

It seems compilers of university rankings have found a new way to attract attention: the downward Oxbridge spiral.

According to The Daily Mail, Oxbridge is being “shunned” as students believe US universities are “better value for money” – though this is in fact the view from independent schools, not the whole country.

Richard Harman, head of Uppingham School in Rutland told The Independent that one of his pupils had plumped for California’s Stanford University over Cambridge.

Apparently really good value

While it is questionable how representative these cases are, a recent survey of UK universities shows a similar slide in Oxbridge’s standing.

According to High Fliers Research, more top employers targeted Manchester University in their recruitment campaigns than Cambridge in 2014–15.

The companies in question were the organisations named as The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2014.

These include behemoths like Apple, the BBC, Clifford Chance, GE, HSBC, PwC and Unilever.

High Fliers say such companies are most likely to be present at campus fairs in Manchester, followed by Nottingham (second) and Warwick (third).

Next is Cambridge (fourth), just ahead of Oxford (fifth).

Apply via Nottingham

However, if that doesn’t sound good, don’t worry because there are plenty of other employability surveys out there.

It just so happens that when it comes to world rankings, we’re in first place. Which makes perfect sense.