From its inception, the University has concentrated on strong viable departments and teaching and research of the highest quality. The quality of York's teaching has received many accolades. York and Cambridge top the teaching league with the highest scores in official teaching assessments. York is also rated 6th out of 172 Higher Education institutions for research, with 18 of its 23 departments rated 5 or 5*. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, carried out by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in 2001, York out performed all the large civic universities.