Guardian university league table 2015: Cambridge underscores its dominance

Non-Russell Group universities rise, knocking former favorites out of top slots

The Universities of Bath, Surrey and Lancaster have charged ahead of their Russell Group peers in the Guardian league table of universities, knocking University College London (UCL) out of its traditional place in the top 10.

The University of Cambridge underlines its dominance by coming top of the table for the fourth year in a row and increasing the gap between itself and its ancient rival Oxford, which remains in second place. St Andrews, in third, is followed by Bath, Imperial College, Surrey, LSE, Durham, Warwick and Lancaster.

Cambridge has also performed well across the Guardian's subject tables, which rank universities according to areas of study and will be published in full on Tuesday. It tops 17 of the subject tables, while Oxford takes the number one spot in just four.

The universities of Bath and Surrey, both recent entries in the top 10, have continued to rise. Dame Glynis Breakwell, vice-chancellor of Bath, says her university's performance is down to its focus on employ ability and student satisfaction, both of which form part of the algorithm the Guardian uses to rank institutions.

"We're putting a lot of attention into finding really good placements, which is increasingly difficult to do because of the economic climate," says Breakwell. "Over 60% of Bath students will go out on a year-long professional placement as part of their degree. This gives them fantastic opportunities to learn about what employers want and for them to make contact with potential employers."

The Guardian's league tables rank universities according to: spending per student; their student/staff ratio; graduate career prospects; what grades applicants need to get a place; a value-added score that compares students' entry qualifications with their final degree results; and how satisfied final-year students are with their courses, based on results from the annual National Student Survey.

It was happy finalists who helped to push Surrey University up to sixth place, from eighth place last year and 12th two years ago. The university has been working hard to listen more closely to student opinion, says Surrey's vice-chancellor professor sir Christopher Snowden.

"We've increased the scale of the academic representation from the students – they now have a large number of representatives who meet with senior management. They also have special sessions with the deans and the staff involved in delivery. The idea is that we can address concerns more rapidly."

Other climbers include the Universities of Glyndŵr (from 108 to 64), Derby (from 79 to 50) and Falmouth (76 to 53).

Anglia Ruskin has seen the biggest drop (from 67 to 105), caused in part by a rising student/staff ratio. In civil engineering there are now 22.7 students per member of academic staff, where previously there had been just 14.3.

Birmingham City also fell (from 61 to 88), as did Bournemouth (52 to 71), Aberystwyth (88 to 106), Greenwich (70 to 87), Chester (46 to 61) and Bristol (23 to 34).

The chief factor causing UCL's drop out of the top ten was a fall in the number of leavers getting graduate-level jobs, says Matt Hiely-Rayner, from Intelligent Matrix, the independent consultancy that compiles the tables.

"There have been big falls in the numbers going on to graduate-level jobs or further study, particularly in psychology and chemistry. Another contributor is a drop in overall student satisfaction."

As for the LSE, a drop in its employ ability score and spending per student caused it to lose its place in the top three.

Universities hoping to climb the league tables, Hiely-Rayner advice, should "identify their areas of weakness and concentrate on improving those. They should do that according to their own internal analysis, not just what the league tables say."

The shadow minister for higher education, Liam Byrne, says: "The Guardian university guide is a powerful weapon in the prospective student's arsenal. Its unrivaled analysis of university performance is complemented by a rigorous data set – from student satisfaction rates to employ ability statistics – enabling young people to make an informed choice on where to study."