Cambridge ranks first in The Complete University Guide

Proof at last: Cambridge officially better than O*ford


The Complete University Guide has released its league tables ranking for 2024, and Cambridge has a 100% score. Cambridge and Oxford may sometimes see each other as rivals, but at the end of the day, we still love our slightly worse counterparts x

Cambridge has risen to the top, beating out O*ford to be crowned the top UK university for the first time since 2021. Oxford received a 98 per cent overall score (couldn’t be us).

The top five have a newcomer, with the University of Bath climbing three places to push out Imperial College London who have dropped one place into sixth. Durham has dropped two places but remains in the top ten at the eighth ranking. Check out the full table here.

(Image credit: author’s own screenshot from website)

Cambridge beat Oxford with higher overall scores in entry standards, research quality and graduate prospects.

However, neither university had any recorded data on student satisfaction. They were the only two universities with no student satisfaction scores, due to Cambridge and Oxford boycotting the National Student Survey and not meeting the 50 per cent response rate required.

Cambridge also achieved the top ranking in ‘research intensity’. What a shock. I think every Cambridge student could have guessed if a category has ‘intensity’ in its name, we have a good shot of being first.

Cambridge also achieved a massive 42 subjects ranked in the top ten! The subjects ranked in the top 10 range from Geology to Politics. Check the link here to see what rank your subject is.

These rankings are certainly interesting, and it’s always fun to beat O*ford (first the boat race and now this), however it is important to remember that there is more to university than what is shown in these statistics.

Personally, I would like to see some more fun categories, so Complete University Guide feel free to use any of these suggestions. I’m thinking about introducing categories for the best nightlife, the price of a pint, the concentration of hot people, the best traditions etc.

The important thing to remember is that Cambridge is the best. Duh. 

Feature Image Credits: Sophie Carlin

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