Subject-based Norrington Table?

Does such a thing as a subject-specific league table exist for Oxford colleges? Has anyone ever tried to compile one, based on the published examination results (or otherwise)?

Reply 1

CamSPSer

The equivalent at Cambridge (Baxter tables) are a fairly well kept secret. If such a thing does exist it would be difficult to find and anyway the fluctuations year on year, especially for some of the smaller subjects, would make it worthless

Reply 2

Elles

Definitely agree with notyourpunk's last sentence.

to answer the Q - i've never come across/hear of one.
although i imagine one could be fairly straight-forwardly compiled old Norrington Table style by just going round & counting from the posted class lists - although same flaw as the old un-official Norrington with people opting out if they wanted to.
think you can find jpegs of quite a few subject pass lists both finals & prelims from last summer floating round on the net...

but i really wouldn't put too much on one year's results - any "college effect" that you might be looking for would probably be hugely marred by the "noise" of individual variation/personal circumstances of specific candidates in that year & the years may often be quite small.
& whether there is any "college effect" could just be due to self selection & applicant numbers to choose from - wonder if there's any correlation with college & departmental location etc. :wink:

- rather than any value-added-ness or wildly superior college teaching & provisions.
so don't think it would be that useful for an individual deciding which college to apply to.. although as stats to play around with might be interesting! :p:

Reply 3

fleur-de-lis

samlangfield

Does such a thing as a subject-specific league table exist for Oxford colleges? Has anyone ever tried to compile one, based on the published examination results (or otherwise)?

Apart from what Elles has posted, I am not aware of such a table. If you are so eager to find out, you should probably mail the colleges and ask them how they perform in specific subjects.

Reply 4

samlangfield

I did do, in the run up to my application. Some colleges were willing to disclose the information, some not. As has been said, one should be wary of year-on-year fluctuations, especially given the smaller figures involved, compared with the more general Norrington Table.

However, there surely is some discrepancy from college to college: Balliol, for instance, is the most renowned for PPE, and I have heard that St Anne's is rather good for that subject too.

Not "so eager" - just mildly curious.

Reply 5

fleur-de-lis

St Anne's is! :biggrin:

I guess that OxGoss has the past year's results, but apart from that, you'll really have to trust your gut.
You could also post a thread here on TSR on which are the colleges which are best for a particular subject- the chances are that there would be someone reading that! :smile: