MERTON is Oxford's best college acccording to the university's league table for degree results.

The college has taken over from St John's at the top of a table described by the university as an accurate version of the Norrington Table - the unofficial table published by The Times.

For decades the university has refused to co-operate with the Norrington Table, based on data gathered from results lists posted outside the Examination Schools.

The table has become increasingly inaccurate as students have chosen to withhold their names from lists under the Data Protection Act.

The new official university table shows how many undergraduate degrees were gained in total by each college and breaks them down by degree classification. It also gives a 'Norrington Score' for each college.

Merton climbs one place from second last year, while Balliol climbs from third to second. St John's College slips to fifth.

At the other end of the scale, Harris Manchester College is bottom for the second year in a row.

The score is based on the points system proposed by Sir Arthur Norrington in 1962, then president of Trinity College.

Under the Norrington system, five points are awarded for each student receiving a first-class degree, three points for an upper second, two for a lower second and one for a third.

The total score is expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score.

A spokesman for Oxford University said: "The colleges do not consider the table particularly significant, as the numbers involved per college are too small to be statistically significant.

"However, since there is clearly interest in the tables in the media and public, they are publishing the tables so that everyone has access to the data.

"We certainly don't encourage students to pay any attention to it.

"The numbers are so small and change so much each year that to pay any attention to it is pointless.

"But people are going to look at this sort of information whether we like it or not and so we want them to at least have accurate data to look at.

"People like to look back and see how many firsts their college has got each year and it is there for curiosity, but it should not be there for people to make decisions about where to go."

Balliol College did particularly well this year, with 60 first-class degrees awarded, up from 41 last year.

There are 39 Oxford colleges, 30 of which admit students for undergraduate degrees.

Degrees are awarded by the university, not the individual colleges, and examinations are set and marked by the university.

Teaching is provided by both the university (on a departmental basis through lectures, seminars and practical work) and by the student's college (through tutorials).

The current table is an initial version which will be updated in October once a handful of degree results under appeal are resolved. These could change the ranking.

Tables of results, and last year's, can be found online at www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/facts/collegefigs.shtml THE TABLE: 1 Merton College 75.96 2 Balliol College 75.79 3= Magdalen College 74.77 3= New College 74.77 5 St John's College 72.91 6 Christ Church 72.46 7 Wadham College 72.10 8 Lincoln College 71.26 9 Trinity College 70.62 10 University College 70.43 11 Corpus Christi College 70.39 12 Queen's College 69.79 13 St Edmund Hall 68.52 14 Worcester College 68.43 15 Brasenose College 68.06 16 Somerville College 67.97 17 Hertford College 67.48 18 Lady Margaret Hall 67.21 19 Jesus College 67.11 20 St Hilda's College 67.08 21 St Catherine's College 66.78 22 St Anne's College 66.67 23 Pembroke College 65.95 24 St Hugh's College 65.81 25 Exeter College 65.68 26 Keble College 64.84 26 27 St Peter's College 63.40 28 Oriel College 61.67 29 Mansfield College 61.38 30 Harris Manchester College 60.00