Oxford may have maintained its superiority in the overall ranking of universities, but Cambridge is the unquestioned leader when it comes to individual subjects. It tops 37 of the 61 subject tables in the latest edition of The Times Good University Guide, Oxford just five. In the subjects where the two universities are in opposition, Oxford comes out ahead only in anthropology, music and politics.

Only Edinburgh, Loughborough and Warwick head more than two tables. Fewer than 20 universities come out top in any subject, all of them from the pre-1992 generation of universities.

This, rather than a university's position in the institutional table, is what should guide applicants, according to many higher education experts. Although many factors contribute to study choices, research invariably shows that the course is students' top priority. After all, this is what will occupy an undergraduate's time and shape his or her career.

In some jobs, particularly those requiring technical expertise gained in the course of a degree, the strength of the department may be more important to an employer than the standing of the university as a whole. The subject tables show where universities excel, regardless of their overall position.

While the usual suspects dominate most of the tables, the best universities have weak spots and there are centres of excellence in others that might be missed by the normal applicant. Queen's University Belfast tops the dentistry table, for example, while Cardiff takes the honours in architecture. Both are out of range of most sixth-formers' programmes of university visits but are shown to be leading players in these fields and others.

This year's guide returns to the full range of subjects, with nearly twice the number of tables in last year's edition. The leading positions in a selection of subjects and the full tables are available here.

The tables have been improved this year, with the inclusion for the first time of satisfaction scores from the National Student Survey. Undergraduates gave their views on teaching standards, feedback from staff, academic support and the quality of learning resources, as well as on how their course contributed to their personal development.

The survey featured last year in the main table, but we have waited for three years of results to be sure that the scores would be sufficiently robust to be reliable at subject level. The ground rules of the survey dictate that no results are published unless at least half the final-year undergraduates (a minimum of 23) have responded. Although the response rates have been high, this makes it inevitable that many departments have no satisfaction scores. In such cases, scores are generated according to the university's performance on the other measures - as they are when the number of students is too small to produce reliable entry or destinations scores.

Adding the new measure to the existing set of entry scores, research grades and graduate destinations has brought big changes in some tables because the most satisfied students are not always at the most prestigious universities. In art and design, the most satisfied students are at Teesside University, which is still not in the top 20 but has jumped 30 places up the table as a result. The best satisfaction score in drama, dance and cinematics was at Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln, which almost made the top 20 in that table, having been 40th last year.

Some employment scores are equally revealing. Brighton University has had the highest proportion of graduates in English going straight into graduate-level jobs, or more advanced courses, for the past four years. Strathclyde University has the best record for French, with 95 per cent of leavers recording similar success in the latest national survey of graduate employment.

As in all the tables in The Times Good University Guide, it pays to look beyond the top universities, which may have so many applications that even many of the best-qualified candidates are rejected. Entry scores indicate where competition is likely to be stiffest. The figures record

the total points achieved by successful applicants - not the grades demanded by each university, which are usually much lower.

Following this year's shake-up with the addition of student satisfaction scores, the order is likely to alter again in many subjects next year, when there will be new research grades for the first time since 2002. The Research Assessment Exercise, the results of which are due in December, will refresh the one element of the subject tables that has been static from year to year.

For those still undecided about which subject to study, there are tables in the paperback version of the guide, published by HarperCollins, that show average employment rates and starting salaries across the range of subjects. Health-related subjects fill the top positions in the employment table, with dentists leading the way. Medics are the top earners, with salaries averaging more than £30,000 six months after graduation.

But graduate employment is only part of the picture when it comes to choosing a course. Some of the most popular subjects in terms of applications are well down the earnings list. The transparent format of the subject tables lets readers make judgments according to their own priorities.

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