At the top of our league table for 10 years, Britain’s best university is far from content to rest on its laurels

　　After a decade of dominance at the head of our league table, the University of Cambridge is recognised today as the 2007 Sunday Times University of the Year.

　　Any list of the leading academic institutions in the world would include Cambridge. It currently ranks second to Harvard in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s world university league table, one place ahead of Oxford, which it has beaten by the same single-place margin in all 10 of our league tables since 1998.

　　On the world stage, Cambridge competes primarily with American institutions. That it does so on an equal footing, despite a huge disparity in funding, is a tribute both to the financial efficiency of Cambridge, and of course, its intellectual capacity.

　　Vice-chancellor Alison Richard, the first woman to hold the position full-time, is in a good position to judge Cambridge’s standing, having spent 30 years working in America, at Yale, the last eight of which were spent as provost, the chief academic and administrative officer behind the university president.

　　“We are totally focused on quality,” she says. “We compete with institutions in the US and we compete with a fraction of their resources at our disposal and without the infrastructure that our American peers have.”

　　In schools the length and breadth of Britain, Cambridge represents the pinnacle of academic achievement, the holy grail sought by more than 14,000 sixth-formers every year. They vie for about 3,300 places, with more than four applicants chasing each one. Virtually all of the 14,000 are expected to – and go on to – achieve straight As at A-level or the highest scores in the international baccalaureate.

　　The rewards for those who make it are immense. Thirty-six subjects secured top ratings for the quality of teaching during a decade of reviews conducted by fellow academics for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Not surprising when you consider that many of the academics have written the text books too.

　　Students benefit from the unique supervision system at Cambridge, where they are taught in pairs or small groups by a senior member of staff, usually from the college to which students belong. Unlike in many modern universities, the coursework (often essays) is not formally assessed. The aim is to encourage risk-taking free of the fear that getting it “wrong” might damage the chances of leaving with a high-class degree.

　　Of course, many do go on to achieve just that, with one in four students gaining a first, 86% a first or upper second. Assessment is mostly by three-hour written examinations.

　　Fostering a culture of intellectual freedom extends beyond supervisions into Cambridge’s research work.

　　Ahead of the university’s 800th anniversary in 2009, the UK’s largest fundraising campaign has been launched, seeking to raise ￡1 billion for the coffers. The aim is to build an endowment that will sprinkle stardust, offering additional funds across four key areas: Support for students; Support for staff; Assisting university collections and preserving the architectural heritage; Fostering the “freedom to discover”.

　　The university is halfway towards achieving its target and the dividends are already apparent. Richard sees the appeal as getting back in touch with the philanthropic spirit that has underpinned much of what Cambridge has achieved over eight centuries.

　　“We need more seed capital,” she says. “We call it the freedom to discover, having the flexibility to test ideas before they are ready to take to the research councils for funding.”

　　Another dividend is apparent in the university’s bursary scheme, heavily revised earlier this month at huge cost. Many universities are still mulling over their response to the government decision to increase grant provision, raising the maximum income ceilings to ￡25,000 and ￡60,000 respectively for qualification for full and partial maintenance grants. As many bursary schemes have been pegged to these thresholds, which have risen from about ￡18,000 and ￡38,500 respectively, the institutions are facing sharply increased costs.

　　Cambridge has moved quickly, however, to track the increased income thresholds for grant qualification. Full Cambridge bursaries of ￡3,150 will be offered next year to all students from families with incomes below ￡25,000, while smaller bursaries will be given to students from families with incomes up to ￡60,000. This will bring about 500 extra students each year onto full Cambridge bursaries and the overall cost of one of the most generous bursary packages in the UK will rise by ￡1m a year to ￡7m.

　　The university is determined that nobody be put off from applying on the grounds of cost.

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　　At the top of our league table for 10 years, Britain’s best university is far from content to rest on its laurels

　　After a decade of dominance at the head of our league table, the University of Cambridge is recognised today as the 2007 Sunday Times University of the Year.

　　Any list of the leading academic institutions in the world would include Cambridge. It currently ranks second to Harvard in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s world university league table, one place ahead of Oxford, which it has beaten by the same single-place margin in all 10 of our league tables since 1998.

　　On the world stage, Cambridge competes primarily with American institutions. That it does so on an equal footing, despite a huge disparity in funding, is a tribute both to the financial efficiency of Cambridge, and of course, its intellectual capacity.

　　Vice-chancellor Alison Richard, the first woman to hold the position full-time, is in a good position to judge Cambridge’s standing, having spent 30 years working in America, at Yale, the last eight of which were spent as provost, the chief academic and administrative officer behind the university president.

　　“We are totally focused on quality,” she says. “We compete with institutions in the US and we compete with a fraction of their resources at our disposal and without the infrastructure that our American peers have.”

　　In schools the length and breadth of Britain, Cambridge represents the pinnacle of academic achievement, the holy grail sought by more than 14,000 sixth-formers every year. They vie for about 3,300 places, with more than four applicants chasing each one. Virtually all of the 14,000 are expected to – and go on to – achieve straight As at A-level or the highest scores in the international baccalaureate.

　　The rewards for those who make it are immense. Thirty-six subjects secured top ratings for the quality of teaching during a decade of reviews conducted by fellow academics for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Not surprising when you consider that many of the academics have written the text books too.

　　Students benefit from the unique supervision system at Cambridge, where they are taught in pairs or small groups by a senior member of staff, usually from the college to which students belong. Unlike in many modern universities, the coursework (often essays) is not formally assessed. The aim is to encourage risk-taking free of the fear that getting it “wrong” might damage the chances of leaving with a high-class degree.

　　Of course, many do go on to achieve just that, with one in four students gaining a first, 86% a first or upper second. Assessment is mostly by three-hour written examinations.

　　Fostering a culture of intellectual freedom extends beyond supervisions into Cambridge’s research work.

　　Ahead of the university’s 800th anniversary in 2009, the UK’s largest fundraising campaign has been launched, seeking to raise ￡1 billion for the coffers. The aim is to build an endowment that will sprinkle stardust, offering additional funds across four key areas: Support for students; Support for staff; Assisting university collections and preserving the architectural heritage; Fostering the “freedom to discover”.

　　The university is halfway towards achieving its target and the dividends are already apparent. Richard sees the appeal as getting back in touch with the philanthropic spirit that has underpinned much of what Cambridge has achieved over eight centuries.

　　“We need more seed capital,” she says. “We call it the freedom to discover, having the flexibility to test ideas before they are ready to take to the research councils for funding.”

　　Another dividend is apparent in the university’s bursary scheme, heavily revised earlier this month at huge cost. Many universities are still mulling over their response to the government decision to increase grant provision, raising the maximum income ceilings to ￡25,000 and ￡60,000 respectively for qualification for full and partial maintenance grants. As many bursary schemes have been pegged to these thresholds, which have risen from about ￡18,000 and ￡38,500 respectively, the institutions are facing sharply increased costs.

　　Cambridge has moved quickly, however, to track the increased income thresholds for grant qualification. Full Cambridge bursaries of ￡3,150 will be offered next year to all students from families with incomes below ￡25,000, while smaller bursaries will be given to students from families with incomes up to ￡60,000. This will bring about 500 extra students each year onto full Cambridge bursaries and the overall cost of one of the most generous bursary packages in the UK will rise by ￡1m a year to ￡7m.

　　The university is determined that nobody be put off from applying on the grounds of cost.

　　相关阅读： 英国留学英国留学费用英国留学政策英国签证英国大学排名

　　英国DIY留学留学英国英国名校英国地图英国大学热门专业

　　留学e网DIY留学留学DIY澳洲DIY留学美国DIY留学

　　英国DIY留学欧洲DIY留学新西兰DIY留学签证申请留学社区

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