Recession has brought about an abrupt change of mood on university campuses up and down the country. A five-year boom in the graduate job market has been stopped in its tracks and salary expectations, which hit record levels last year, are heading southwards. No wonder only one in five of 16,000 final year students questioned for a recent survey by High Flyers Research said that they expected to get a job for which they are qualified by the time they graduate this summer.

Despite the gloom, the financial case for going to university remains compelling. International surveys continue to show the salary premium enjoyed by UK graduates over those who choose not to go to university as among the highest in the world. In the post-recession world, a university degree is likely to be even more of an advantage to job-seekers than before.

But choosing the right degree course and the right university will also be more important than ever. This does not necessarily mean that students should go only for job-related degrees, but it will put a premium on marketable skills. And it may mean that more universities can be expected to follow the lead of Liverpool John Moores University, which puts all of its undergraduates through a World of Work (WoW) course designed to give them the problem-solving and communications skills they will need at work (see page 8).

The Times Good University Guide 2010, published by HarperCollins, offers a wealth of essential information to help candidates to navigate the maze of university choice, as well as advice on student life. It is the most authoritative guide to universities in the UK and is an essential and comprehensive tool for students and parents.

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• The Times University Guide table

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The online version of the Guide (timesonline.co.uk/gug) allows students and parents to create their own individual university rankings and to compare the strengths and weaknesses of different institutions by sorting universities according to one of eight criteria — from student satisfaction to research quality and degree results.

The table sees Oxford maintain its leadership, despite coming below Cambridge in most of the subject tables. Cambridge has the better record on student satisfaction, research, entry standards, completion and graduate destinations, but Oxford’s lead in staffing levels, degree classifications and particularly in spending on libraries and other student facilities makes the difference.

The biggest climbers at the top of the table include Liverpool (up from 43 to 28), Leeds (up from 31 to 27), Sheffield (up from 22 to 18), Edinburgh (up from 18 to 14) and Exeter (up from 13 to nine). St Andrews remains the top university in Scotland, while Cardiff is well clear in Wales.

The key information is contained in the 62 subject tables, which now cover every area of higher education. Two more universities have been created since the last edition was published: the University of the Creative Arts, which has bases in Kent and Surrey, and Glyndwr University, the former North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, in Wrexham.

The number of institutions in this year’s tables has increased by only one because a fourth university — the West of Scotland — has instructed the Higher Education Statistics Agency not to release its data. It joins Swansea Metropolitan, London Metropolitan and Liverpool Hope universities in blocking the release of data to avoid appearing in league tables.

This year, the tables include the first updated official assessments of research at UK universities for seven years, based on the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The RAE measures the calibre of academic research and influences the destination of £1.5 billion a year of research funding. It is arguably the most important force in British academia. For performance across all departments, Cambridge cements its place as Britain’s foremost centre for research, closely followed by Oxford.

For applicants hoping to start their university studies in September 2010, a big change is the introduction of the new A* grade at A level, created to sort the real high-fliers from the merely excellent.

The development is a response to the ever-increasing numbers achieving three As, but it is one that many universities did not want. To date, only Cambridge has announced that it would use the new grade for selection in its first year, expecting candidates to have at least one A*. A handful of others may follow suit, but the signs are that most universities will wait to see the system bed in before including the new grade in entry requirements, as the Government has recommended.

Another big change on the horizon is the Government’s long-awaited review of tuition fees. While the review may report before the start of the 2010-11 academic year, its recommendations are unlikely to affect those beginning courses then.

Any change will need to be agreed by both Houses of Parliament and will have to be included in university prospectuses. So an above-inflation increase is unlikely before 2013, even if the political will exists to sanction one. Those applying for 2010 entry should also remember that previous increases have never applied to those already on courses.

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