Tompkins Table

The Tompkins Table is an annual ranking that lists the colleges of the University of Cambridge in order of their undergraduate students' performances in that year's examinations. It was created in 1981 by Peter Tompkins, an undergraduate mathematics student, and is compiled exclusively for the newspaper The Independent.

The rankings

Initially, it only included final year exams but since 1997 has covered all exams for which grades are allocated. The table allocates 5 points for a First Class degree, 3 points for an Upper Second (known also as a 2-1), 2 points for a Lower Second (a 2-2), 1 point for a Third and no points for someone only granted an allowance towards an Ordinary Degree. The scores in each subject are then weighted to a common average, to avoid the bias towards colleges with higher proportions of students entered for subjects which receive higher average grades. The result is expressed as a percentage of the total number of points available. It should be noted that the differences between the highest places on the table are usually very slight. Over the twenty-eight years that this table has been running, Christ's College has averaged to be the top College for academic excellence, however, in recent years Emmanuel College lays claim to consistently having the best results, topping the table in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, as well as being second in 2001, 2002 and 2008. The rankings are not officially endorsed by the University. Since Darwin College and Clare Hall admit only graduate students, they do not feature in the ranking.

Below is the table for 2008 :

Position	College	Tompkins Score (%)	Firsts (%)
1	Selwyn College	68.47	29.9
2	Emmanuel College	68.30	30.6
3	Trinity College	68.27	31.4
4	Gonville & Caius College	67.33	27.9
5	Magdalene College	65.97	24.5
6	Churchill College	65.72	27.1
7	Jesus College	65.60	25.2
8	Christ's College	65.27	25.7
9	Corpus Christi College	65.24	24.1
10	Pembroke College	64.96	24.5
11	St. Catharine's College	64.63	23.5
12	Downing College	64.47	22.8
13	Clare College	64.44	22.5
14	Sidney Sussex College	64.21	20.9
15	Trinity Hall	63.76	19.3
16	Queens' College	63.58	22.3
17	Robinson College	63.32	20.6
18	Peterhouse	63.21	22.9
19	King's College	63.07	22.5
20	St. John's College	62.48	20.5
21	Fitzwilliam College	61.08	18.2
22	Girton College	60.84	15.3
23	Murray Edwards College	60.02	13.9
24	Newnham College	59.96	13.3
25	Homerton College	58.62	13.0
26	Hughes Hall	56.36	20.8
27	Wolfson College	55.13	7.4
28	Lucy Cavendish College	52.60	8.7
29	St Edmund's College	51.55	11.2

College	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Christ's College	1	1	4	2	2	4	6	2	8
Churchill College	15	9	10	9	19	18	13	15	6
Clare College	9	6	3	6	4	9	12	17	13
Corpus Christi College	10	20	18	7	10	16	8	8	9
Downing College	8	10	8	12	17	15	11	3	12
Emmanuel College	3	2	2	1	1	5	1	1	2
Fitzwilliam College	21	13	20	20	15	13	19	14	21
Girton College	18	17	16	17	25	24	22	21	22
Gonville & Caius College	12	8	7	4	5	2	2	10	4
Homerton College				25	24	26	25	26	25
Hughes Hall				27	27	29	29	29	26
Jesus College	13	11	9	10	9	7	10	9	7
King's College	20	21	14	16	20	10	17	18	19
Lucy Cavendish College				26	26	27	26	24	28
Magdalene College	22	22	15	18	22	20	20	13	5
New Hall	16	23	24	24	23	25	24	23	23
Newnham College	24	24	22	21	13	21	23	22	24
Pembroke College	6	7	1	3	6	6	4	7	10
Peterhouse	14	19	23	22	21	22	21	25	18
Queens' College	5	5	5	5	8	8	14	11	16
Robinson College	19	14	21	23	16	11	18	20	17
St. Catharine's College	11	18	12	11	7	1	3	5	11
St Edmund's College				29	29	28	28	28	29
St. John's College	4	4	11	13	14	12	15	19	20
Selwyn College	7	12	13	14	11	19	7	4	1
Sidney Sussex College	23	16	19	15	18	14	9	12	14
Trinity College	2	3	6	8	3	3	5	6	3
Trinity Hall	17	15	17	19	12	17	16	16	15
Wolfson College				28	28	23	27	27	27

Chart of Tompkins Table

Norrington Table

The corresponding rankings for the University of Oxford is the Norrington Table. Since Oxford adopted split second-class degrees in 1986, the Norrington Table has adopted the Tompkins Table method of scoring, but without the weighting attached to individual subject scores.

External links

• Tompkins Table 2000-2007