Merton tops Oxford 's reluctantly published college rankings
(Friday September 9, 2005)

Oxford University has published its annual league table of degree results of its member colleges, but insists that the rankings are insignificant. The Norrington table ranks Oxford 's colleges by the proportion of their students awarded firsts, seconds and thirds. The rankings are eagerly awaited by academics and have long been used by applicants choosing a college when applying to Oxford, but the university itself has recently publicly looked to undermine their publishing.

Now, however, the institution has conceded that with the Norrington so popular, it should at least attempt to make the rankings as accurate as possible. This year's table sees Tony Blair's alma mater, St John's, knocked from the top spot by Merton college, which only came second in an unofficial version published by the Times newspaper.

Much of Oxford 's disdain for the table is linked to the fact that it generally confirms that the older colleges, which have built up hefty endowments over years, trump the results of the younger former women's colleges. In this year's list the newly founded Harris Manchester College , which admits only mature students, came 30 th of 30.