UK rankings slump in best universities world league table
he best universities in the world have been named in a new list for 2021, with institutions across the UK slumping in the league table for the fourth consecutive year.
Almost three quarters of the country’s universities have slipped down the rankings, marking the worst ever performance for the UK in the international table.
Why has UK performance dropped?
The world rankings list is compiled by data and research group QS.
Its methodology is based on employer and academic reputation, class size, research output and international and student numbers, and is recognised as one of the most highly regarded international league tables in the world.
While the University of Oxford continued its reign as the best in the UK, the institution dropped from fourth to fifth place in the 2020 list.
University College London slipped two places to clinch its place in the top ten, while Cambridge University held on to its seventh place
Tposition. Imperial College London climbed one place to rank in eighth, and the University of Edinburgh rounded out the top 20, retaining its place as 20th in the world. A total of 66 of the UK’s 84 ranked universities saw their staff to student ratio decline while 59 said they had a drop in research citations. A further 51 institutions noted a fall in the number of international students.
Compilers of the rankings attributed the falls to poor teaching and declining research impact.
QS director of research, Ben Sowter, said the lower rankings in the UK mirror those in North American and European countries, as a result of increasing investment in higher education in other parts of the world.
Sowter suggested Brexit, financial uncertainty and rapid expansion all contributed to the falls in the UK, and recommended more investment in teaching capacity to help rankings improve.
He said: “Investment in teaching capacity would serve the British higher education sector well, and help it to regain lost ground.”
He added: “So, too, would concerted efforts to ensure that Britain continues to remain an attractive place for talented academics and students to study in the future, and a national desire to continue collaborating with our European and global partners on transformative research projects.”
The University of Bristol is one UK institution that has faced criticism from its local council for rapid expansion, and slipped outside of the top 50 for the first time this year, falling nine places to rank in 58th place.
The remaining UK universities rounding out the top 50 include the London School of Economics, which fell five places to 49th.
There was also King’s College London, which rose to 31st, and the University of Manchester which ranked in 27th.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) retained the number one spot for the ninth year, with Stanford University taking second place, followed by Harvard University, both of which kept their previous rankings. Asian universities had 26 in the top 100 in the world.