Alastair McCall

Royal Holloway, University of London

When the UK’s most prestigious university was beaten by Imperial in a global university table this week, many believed it was down to slipping standards. The real explanation, says Alastair McCall, who has spent nearly 25 years compiling tables like these, may surprise you...

Copy of University of Plymouth

Our ranking is designed to test whether universities deliver on their promises to students. They all hold out the prospect of acquiring new knowledge and skills that you'll deploy in a dazzling working life.

Welcome to the second edition of the Mail University Guide. Higher education is the first major investment of adult life for the vast majority of students.

Getting a good job at the end of three or four years of studying is increasingly seen as a minimum requirement for students who are leaving university with an average of £44,000 in student loan debt.

You can study most subjects at university, and the Daily Mail University Guide has new rankings this year for all the key ones.

Selecting the right combination of universities on your UCAS form is a little like a game of chess - you need to find a sensible combination of attack and defence to succeed.

As thousands of students head to university this weekend, there are dire warnings parts of the sector are close to collapse. University Guide editor Alastair McCall looks at where the danger lies and argues student fees can’t save the day this time

As the government considers plans to increase tuition fees for students to £10,500, Alastair McCall looks at the crisis facing higher education in this country and asks why when the UK already has some of the highest fees and student debt in the world, are we still asking our young adults and their parents to save the day?