UK universities fall down world rankings

ALMOST three quarters of Britain’s leading universities have slipped in the world rankings, with experts claiming students could be affected by having “less personal attention” from overstretched tutors.

The QS World University Rankings has downgraded 62 out of 84 British universities from their standings last year, including Oxford University which has dropped one place to fifth. According to QS, a decline in teaching capacity has caused British institutions to “lose ground” on their international counterparts, especially those in Asian countries. The latest data, which was released today, found 66 universities saw a decline in their teacher-to-student ratio last year.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “Every member of staff is dealing with more students. That risks each student getting less personal attention. This is due to the financial resources with staff costing a lot of money.”

Overall, 18 British universities were featured in the top 100, with Oxford University ranking highest.

Cambridge University was ranked seventh, while Imperial College London came eighth and University College London, tenth. Top was Massachusetts Institute of Technology.