Oxford and Cambridge continue their intellectual duel at the top of the academic league in the latest edition of The Times Good University Guide, published today. Oxford kept Cambridge in second place for the fifth year running, despite an overwhelming lead for the light blues in the rankings for individual degree subjects. Cambridge came top in 35 out of 44 subject tables in which it appeared, compared with just 8 out of 34 for Oxford. Its strength across the board is reflected in the highest average entry qualifications for students at 525.1 points, equivalent to A grades in four A levels and one AS examination. Oxford’s grip on the top spot is helped largely by higher spending on library and computing facilities and a bigger proportion of students awarded at least a 2:1 degree. Britain’s oldest universities have widened the gap this year, with Imperial College London again ranking third.

Changes to some of the measures in the main table, in particular the introduction of a “student satisfaction” score in place of assessments of teaching quality, have produced greater movement than usual in the rankings this year. The “golden triangle” of Oxford, Cambridge and London accounts for all of the top five places, but there is a surprise entry in sixth place.

Loughborough, which marks its 40th anniversary this year, is the best provincial university for the first time, consolidating its burgeoning reputation since it burst into the top 10 in 2004.

It is ranked in the top 10 in 12 of the individual subject tables in this year’s guide, putting it on a par with the London School of Economics. Entry standards remain appealingly competitive in comparison with other leading universities, though increased demand has pushed up grades. Warwick, long the top dog in the provinces, must settle for eighth this year. With Bath in ninth place, a trio of universities founded during the expansion of the 1960s is firmly established among the country’s educational elite.

More recent entrants to the higher education field can certainly find inspiration in their progress. The range of options available to students continues to grow, with 109 universities listed in this year’s table, compared with 100 in 2005.

New universities include Winchester, which makes its debut in 62nd place, Chichester in 64th, Chester in 68th, Bath Spa in 73rd and Worcester in 82nd. Edge Hill College in Lancashire became Britain’s newest university last month, though it was too late to feature in this year’s guide.

With ministers keen to make it easier for more newcomers to enter the higher education market, students are likely to face an even greater diversity of providers in the future. They need reliable information about what is available, and how good it might be as never before, if they are to make sense of their options.

Edinburgh retains its place as Scotland’s top university, but slips from 5th to 11th overall. St Andrews falls out of the top 10 for the first time since 2003, though demand for places continues to boom even after the departure of Prince William. Almost twice as many students seek places at St Andrews now than before the Prince enrolled. Glasgow is the only other Scottish university in the top 30 this year. Cardiff, in 16th, retains its position as the top university in Wales. Its nearest competitors in the principality are Bangor and Swansea, ranked 42nd and 43rd respectively.

Oxford Brookes reclaims the title of Britain’s top new university, in 54th place, just ahead of Plymouth and Robert Gordon University. Thames Valley reaches an unenviable milestone as the bottom university for the seventh successive year, though entry standards are slightly better than at Luton, which is one place above. Thames Valley has a better graduate employment record than 37 other universities, however.

Bolton, which also gained university status last year, has the lowest entry standards at just 170 UCAS points. However, it also has the poorest record on drop-outs, with only 66 per cent of students expected to complete their courses.

Abertay Dundee, East London, Sunderland, Thames Valley and Paisley universities all have drop-out rates in excess of 30 per cent. For the third successive year, London Metropolitan University has refused to release data and so does not appear in the table. Students are entitled to ask what it has to hide.

A policy of secrecy hardly sits well with the need to demonstrate value for money in the new era of increased fees.

Some well known names do not appear. The Open University and Birkbeck College do not cater for full-time undergraduates and Cranfield University and the London Business School serve mainly postgraduates.

• The tables published in The Times all this week have been compiled by Mayfield University Consultants (info@mayfield-uc.org.uk). The data will be analysed in this week’s Times Higher Education Supplement. Subject tables covering all universities can be found in The Times Good University Guide 2007, edited by John O’ Leary, available at the Times BooksFirst price of £14.39 (RRP £15.99). To order a copy call 0780 1608080 or visit www.booksfirst.co.uk.
  
  University table key
  
  The Top Universities 2007 League Table (See Graphic: University table key) ranks universities by measuring nine key aspects of activity. Scores were weighted by 1.5 for student satisfaction and research assessment. The totals for all universities were transformed to a scale where the top score was set at 1,000, with those for the remaining universities being a proportion of that score. If a university was missing any data, the total score was based on the data available.
  
  
• Student satisfaction: a view of the learning experience at the university, taken from the National Student Survey in 2005. It is a measure of student opinion, not a direct measure of quality. Scottish universities were not included and a small number of English ones had insufficient data.
  
  
• Research assessment: average quality of research, from the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.
  
  
• Entry standards: average full UCAS tariff score of new students under 21, from the HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) in 2003/04. At A level, an A grade is 120 points, B 100, C 80, D 60, and E 40. AS grades are worth half.
  
  
• Student-staff ratio: average number of students per staff member, taken from HESA data for 2003/04.
  
  
• Library/computing spend: average expenditure per student on library and computing facilities, from HESA data between 2001 and 2004.
  
  
• Facilities spend: average expenditure per student on facilities such as sports, careers services, health and counselling, from HESA data between 2001 and 2004.
  
  
• Good honours: percentage of graduates achieving a first or upper second class degree, from HESA data for 2003-04.
  
  
• Graduate prospects: percentage of UK graduates in “graduate” employment or further study, from HESA data for 2003-04.Only occupations that normally need a degree were included.
  
  
• Completion: percentage of students expected to graduate, including those who transfer to other institutions to complete courses, mainly from HESA data for 2003/04 and earlier years.