i was wondering if any one could guide me in the direction of finding the most up to date uk universities performance league? thanks.

UK newspapers publish university league tables every year. Books such as the Times Good University Guide, The Virgin Alternative Guide to British Universities and, The Guardian University Guide are all good publications, but tend to be geared towards undergraduate degrees. The Guardian League Tables are available on the web, but again are really for potential undergraduates.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) rates university teaching and can be found at www.qaa.ac.uk. The RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) is a good guide to the quality of an individual department.

Whichever rating system you use make sure you look at the ratings for the subject area and not the institution as a whole. Each university has strengths and weaknesses.