Which English universities would you put at par, academically speaking, with Oxford or Cambridge?

Question

Name some academically superior universities in England, particularly in the arts, letters, and humanities.

Answer 1

No other univesities in England compare with the two you mentioned. England, however, have fine schools such as the London School of Economics, the school Mick Jaeger of the Rolling Stones went to before his band became world famous.

Answer 2

Personally, I rate the London School of Economics, Kings College and University college, all constituents of the University of London as near equivalents. I have a high opinion of Bristol for Geography, Geology and Marine Biology.  Aston in Birmingham for advanced technology. Birmingham and Sheffield as generally good red-brick universities offering good teaching across the board (Sheffield has a great student scene and strong links with local churches, particularly St Thomas' Church at Crookes and Phildelphia).  Warwick is very good for international politics.  East Anglia, where Malcolm Bradbury developed his course in creative writing, would be my choice if I felt I had a talent in that direction.  If I worked in London and wanted to do my degree whilst working full-time, I think Birkbeck is worth investigating.  And if I were a young trade unionist, I wouldn't pass up on the chance to study at Ruskin college, Oxford.

Answer 3

Very difficult to answer because it depends what criteria you are using. As a kind of Rule of Thumb, Oxford and Cambridge are the two most prestigious. Next you would have the "Russell Group" universities....the older, longer-established Universities.

For Arts and Humanities, I would say maybe University College London, University of Leeds, University of Birmingham, University of Warwick.

It's very hard to answer...as other people have said, you can get excellent departments in a University with a less than excellent reputation overall.

Answer 4

There are because Oxbridge and UCL teach using Postgraduates and at my college Birkbeck I have always been taught by a lecturer usually with a doctorate but also Birkbeck is not infested by those arrogant snobs who are really children.So the level of teaching is higher at Birkbeck than Oxbridge.

Birkbeck is top on Research.

Answer 5

Absolute rubbish to say there are none.  It depends on the department that you wish to study in.  Independent guides that judge each department separately have found that many departments of other universities are as good or better than the equivalent departments at Oxford and Cambridge.  The difference with the Oxbridge Universities is that all their departments will be in the top ten in those fields, the other universities tend to have specialist areas.  Also, many employers still recognise Oxford and Cambridge as the best rather than thinking 'hold on, York has a great English department'.  Although teaching you may receive other universities may be better, Oxford and Cambridge have the reputation, as the first answer to this question shows.

Answer 6

There are none better than Oxford or Cambridge

Answer 7

There are none.