Cambridge is the UK’s best university for research, according to an influential seven-year government study.
Both Cambridge and Oxford achieved high results in the Research Assessment Exercise, a review used to allocate £1.5bn of government funding to universities.

Cambridge submitted 92 per cent of its permanent academic staff, 71 per cent of whom were classed as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, compared to 70 per cent for Oxford.

Work submitted to the study was judged by a process of peer review, and given a mark between 1* and 4*. In a ranking compiled by Times Higher Education, Cambridge finished as the top-performing university, with an average score of 2.98 out of 4. Oxford and the London School of Economics tied in second place, with an average of 2.96. York and Essex are the only non-Russell Group universities in the top ten.

All assessed research was graded either 4* (world-leading), 3* (internationally excellent), 2* (internationally recognised), 1* (nationally recognised) or 0 (sub-standard). Cambridge’s top-performing subject areas were engineering and computer science, both of which achieved either 4* or 3* in 90 per cent of their research. Linguistics achieved the highest percentage of sub-standard research, with 10 per cent of their research being rated 0.

The RAE in 2001 also rated Cambridge as the top UK research university. The 2008 study will be the last of its kind – the government has announced plans to replace it with a new assessment, the research excellence framework, from 2013.
The RAE studied 159 institutions across Great Britain. The results, released on December 18, show standards in 67 different subject categories.

Ian Leslie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Cambridge, said that the RAE results reflected “the strength, depth and breadth of the research at Cambridge, and we are pleased that the global quality of our academics has been recognised”.
“This assessment is useful as it provides insight into where we could make effective changes. The process of evaluation has served the university sector well,” he said.

The report will be used to assist the allocation of £1.5bn of government funding for universities and is important to the life of the University.

With the increased number of institutions excelling in the report there are fears that Cambridge will experience a cut in funding when allocations are made in March.

The government has welcomed the RAE’s findings. John Denham, the universities minister, said: “The latest RAE reinforces the UK’s position as a world leader in research. The fact that over 50 per cent of research is either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ further confirms that the UK continues to punch above its weight in this crucial field.”

NUS president, Wes Streeting, said  the results “highlight the significant improvement in the quality of research by UK universities since the last RAE in 2001, and this is due in no small part to the increase in research funding”.

By Lizzy Tyler

UK’s best research universities
1    Cambridge (1)
2=  Oxford (3)
2=  London School of Economics (4)
4    Imperial College London (2)
5    University College London (6)
6    University of Manchester (n/a)
7    University of Warwick (6)
8    University of York (18)
9    University of Essex (10)
10  University of Edinburgh (16=)
Source: Times Higher Education
(2001 positions in brackets)