Magdalen College has risen from ninth place to come first in this year’s much anticipated Norrington Table. The top five colleges are Magdalen, New College, Wadham, Balliol, and Lincoln.
Professor David Clary, President of Magdalen, commented on his college’s academic success, stating, “Magdalen College is delighted with this year’s examination results. 45% of both women and men taking finals were awarded First Class Honours.
“This is the third time in six years that Magdalen has come top of the Norrington Table. Special congratulations should go to our finalists, to their tutors and to the whole staff of the College who support our students so well.”
Balliol has also risen significantly, from 20th to fourth place, as has St. Catherine’s, from 12th to sixth place. Meanwhile, Merton, which was crowned Oxford’s brainiest college in last year’s table, has plummeted to 27th place. Pembroke has retained bottom place, with St Edmund Hall, Somerville, Merton and Lady Margaret Hall joining it in the bottom five.
Sir Curtis Price, Warden of New College, told Cherwell, “We are of course pleased by our position in the provisional Norrington Table, especially considering the large number of graduates from New College this year. And it’s particularly gratifying that we have been so consistent over many years.”
Mark Griffith, New College’s senior tutor, concurred with Price’s remarks, adding, “We are in fair measure indebted this year to our physicists (7 firsts out of 7), classicists (6 out of 7) and chemists (6 out of 8) for our continued strong performance.”
This unofficial ranking of the colleges is done through a points system for the degrees undergraduate students were awarded in that year, in which a First Class Honours degree gains the college five points, with three points for an Upper Second, two for a Lower Second and none for a Third or a Pass. The total score is expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score, which is all Finals candidates multiplied by five.
The full – provisional – list can be seen here, with the finalised version available later this year.
