Edinburgh holds ground in global university rankings as Oxford top

The University of Oxford has been ranked first in an international league table for the fifth year in a row.

A number of UK universities have slipped down the Times Higher Education( THE) world rankings, with Cambridge dropping from third to sixth place and Imperial College London falling out of the top ten.

The University of Edinburgh held on to its spot in 30th place as the highest-ranked Scottish institution.

University of Glasgow rose seven places to 92 nd spot, while the University of Aberdeen fell ten places to be ranked 178th on the list.

Experts have warned the pandemic heralds “a perfect storm” of huge challenges for UK universities who risk losing international student fee income and the global flow of academic talent to institutions. They say a hard Brexit, combined with the impact of Covid-19, could make British universities “increasingly vulnerable” and the UK risks losing its status as a “higher education superpower”.

Overall, the UK has 29 universities in the top 200, up slightly from 28 last year.

Of these, more than half –15 institutions–have dropped by at least one place in the past 12 months.

The annual list rates more than 1,500 universities from 93 countries and regions.