The "Times" Good University Guide 2009 [Paperback]

However this is not all it does. It reviews almost every subject you could think of individually. And gives league tables for them, e.g. It shows you that Cambridge is top for law, however Oxford is the top University overall, therefore if you are wanting to study law, you can actually see all the universities in ranking order and make an informed decision. Although Cambridge is at the top in nearly all subjects it is not the place to go if you want the best media studies facilities for example, The Times Good University Guide shows you this. This feature is invaluable as it provides a better picture for certain Universities.

The other thing I liked is that it gives an individual page review of each of the colleges in both Oxford and Cambridge, which goes into more depth than Oxford and Cambridge's websites and prospectuses; and the best thing is that it is objective, giving you a real independant view. Also if you don't have the grades to get into the 'top' universities you can see a university which offers lower grades but ranks high for each subject. Overall, I would say that anyone who is serious about getting into a University should read this, anyone who is unsure of where to apply should read this, and anyone contemplating Oxbridge, should definitely read this invaluable source - Thumbs up!

Not only that, but there's an in-built bias towards Cambridge (which, unsurprisingly, comes top as a result) and universities that offer something different (from the very strange and particular experience Cambridge offers) suffer as a result.

Furthermore, a lot of the data is either regurgitated from the prospectuses of the universities or is quite technical performance data which (having been at the receivign end of league tables) I can't help feeling is probably being used wrongly anyway.

This is not really a book for applicants. Apart from anything else, it's just too dull. My favourite alternative - and that of my students - is the far more detailed and entertaining The Push Guide to Which University. Failing that, the Virgin and Guardian guides are okay and considerably better than The Times's effort.