There are several of them, most notably those produced by The Times, The Sunday Times, the Guardian and more recently The Independent in its Complete University Guide.

How useful they actually are is the subject of significant debate. League tables are constructed using different criteria and employ different scoring and weighting systems. This means that a university will rarely appear in the same position in two different league tables in the same year, and may be ranked much higher or lower against the criteria that matter most to you than their overall score might suggest. And because of the way scores are distributed, it is quite normal for universities to rise and fall in league tables each year; a change of just a few points can make a difference of several places depending upon the league table.

Another reason to use league tables carefully is that the overall ranking of the university does not always reflect the ranking of the subject you may want to study. In some cases information about the subject you want to study may not be represented in the league table because of the way information is compiled. Some important and popular subjects, such as environmental sciences for example, cut across more traditional academic subject areas and are rarely represented in the tables.

Our advice to all of those considering higher education is quite simple; use league tables as a tool, but don't lose sight of what is most important - your own criteria. Higher education is a melting pot of academic, social and cultural experiences and there may be something that you want from your chosen university that a league table either doesn't measure or doesn't reflect strongly enough. If you want more information about our courses call the school of study or visit us on an open day or visit day.

The University of East Anglia has been ranked in the top five mainstream English universities for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey for three years running.

The Guardian University Guide 2011 (published June 2010) ranked the university 19th out of 118 institutions in the UK, The Times Good University Guide 2011 (published May 2010) placed the university 23rd out of 113 institutions and The Independent Complete University Guide 2011 (Published May 2010) placed it 28th out of 120 institutions.

The Independent also put the university in second place for Education after Cambridge, second for Pharmacology and Pharmacy after Nottingham, and ninth best in the country for American Studies. Meanwhile The Times survey sound student satisfaction to be high, scoring 83 points, compared to a high of 85 at Oxford and Cambridge. The Guardian guide put the university in second place for Environmental Sciences, Pharmacy and for Nursing and Midwifery.