King's stays top of finals league at Cambridge

KING'S COLLEGE tops the Tompkins league table for finals results at Cambridge University for the fourth year running - but a new way of calculating results puts Queens' ahead.

The table, which is compiled for the Independent by Peter Tompkins, a London actuary, normally includes only final- year exam results. A first class degree receives five points, 3 for an upper second, 2 for a lower second and 1 for a third. Results are tabled as a percentage of the maximum points that a college might have scored.

The usual table shows King's at the top, with Queens' moving up from 13th to second place, Clare College moving up from eighth to third place, and Christ's slipping from third to fourth. Corpus Christi, like Queens', gained 11 places, emerging fifth.

Newnham suffered the largest fall, down from sixth to 22nd place, and Trinity Hall also slumped, from fourth to 17th. However, results in the middle of the table are close, largely because increasing numbers of students are gaining upper seconds (54 per cent of results this year).

At the suggestion of Cambridge academics, Mr Tompkins has produced an alternative table this year, based on results in all tripos exams. Calculating the results that way places Queens' at the top, Christs' second, and King's third, with Corpus Christi slipping to tenth place. Queens' students also gained the largest proportion of first class degrees - 27.1 per cent.

Overall, Cambridge results continued to improve, with more than 18 per cent receiving first class degrees, and only 3.5 per cent being awarded a third.

The colleges with the smallest proportion of first class degrees were New Hall (8.6 per cent) and Robinson (9.2 per cent).

A similar table for the performance of Oxford University colleges - the Norrington table - used to be published every year. However, the authorities decided to stop publishing degree results with the candidates' colleges alongside, making it difficult to compile the table.

----------------------------------------------------------------- TOMPKINS TABLE 1993: Cambridge Colleges' Exam Results ----------------------------------------------------------------- Position* College Finals All Alternative only % exams% Position 1 (1) King's 67.3 62.3 3 2 (13) Queen's 66.3 64.8 1 3 (8) Clare 65.2 60.7 8 4 (3) Christ's 65.0 63.2 2 5 (16) Corpus Christi 64.7 59.2 10 6 (21) Downing 64.17 62.3 4 7 (18) Pembroke 64.16 59.7 9 8 (5) Gonville & Caius 64.0 58.7 11 9 (2) St John's 62.7 61.5 5 10 (7) Churchill 61.91 60.6 7 11 (11) Jesus 61.90 56.7 19 12 (15) Peterhouse 61.87 58.0 15 13 (9) Trinity 61.7 59.8 8 14 (10) Selwyn 60.9 57.0 18 15 (20) Emmanuel 60.3 58.4 13 16 (14) Sidney Sussex 59.6 58.1 14 17 (4) Trinity Hall 59.2 57.8 16 18 (17) New Hall 58.9 53.0 24 19 (19) St Catherine's 58.8 58.6 12 20 (12) Fitzwilliam 58.5 57.3 17 21 (24) Magdalene 57.8 53.7 23 22 (6) Newnham 57.0 56.3 20 23 (23) Robinson 56.4 54.4 22 24 (22) Girton 55.7 55.5 21 ----------------------------------------------------------------- * 1992 figures in brackets -----------------------------------------------------------------