The University of Cambridge has been named the leading university in Britain and has regained first place from Oxford in The Complete University Guide, to the UK’s 116 universities, which is published this month. It was ranked top in the guide, rating institutions by measures such as student satisfaction, research assessment, entry standards and graduate prospects.

In separate listings for the leading universities and higher education institutions covering 62 subjects, Cambridge takes top place in 26 of the 46 it offers, and in the top ten for 45. Oxford tops 13 out of 33.

A fall of seven places to 48th means that The University of Hertfordshire loses its accolade as highest ranking “new” university (former polytechnic) to Oxford Brookes University (46th place).

Nationally the top ten universities are Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics, Durham, St Andrews, University College London, Warwick, Lancaster, and Bath.

Many of the changes in relative position in this year’s table compared with last year can be attributed to the recession. This has resulted in major falls for some universities, while others have had some success in bucking the trend by devoting extra resources to employability.

Bernard Kingston, the principal author of the guide, which has been producing the league table for over 10 years, said, "Some universities have been able to maintain their share of so-called graduate jobs, either because of their strong reputation among employers, or through the efforts they have made to overcome the effects of the recession."

Top 20 Universities:

 Full listings at:  www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk