UK universities told their claim to be in world’s top 1pc is ‘misleading’

British universities may no longer be able to say they are in the top 1 per cent worldwide after the advertising watchdog said the claim was “misleading”.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told Reading University to remove the claim from its marketing because it “could not be substantiated”. The decision comes after several institutions slipped down the QS World University Rankings, published yesterday.

Reading, which fell from 175th place to 188th, said it had believed that its place in the top 200 universities in the world, out of an estimated 20,000, meant it belonged in the top 1 per cent. But it admitted that the claim could not be proved.

The ASA said that it had approached the university in response to a complaint, and since Reading had agreed to remove the claim the matter had been “informally resolved”.

Charles Heymann, the university’s head of corporate communications, said the ASA should now examine other institutions with similar claims.

“We have some of the best universities in the world but potentially breaching the advertising code risks damaging the whole sector’s reputation,” he said.

Other universities making the same claim include Leicester, UCL and Southampton.