51³Ô¹Ï

It could be argued that THE's "Table of tables" is meaningless because it doesn't include The Open University: after all, its teaching quality and National Student Survey rankings usually score higher than any other university. Your report doesn't even mention the institution's exclusion ("Dreaming spires dominant: Oxford tops 'Table of tables' for third year", 17 June).

The fact that most (but certainly not all) of our students are part-time seems to "justify" the exclusion of the most inclusive university in the world.

Dominic Newbould, Director of external relations, Open University Worldwide.