British universities marked down in global rankings as China invests heavily in rivals
BRITISH universities have dropped down a global league table amid intense competition from Chinese rivals.
The UK is struggling to maintain its global dominance after some of its universities scored lower in areas such as research performance and the proportion of graduates going to hold top company positions, according to the Center for World University (CWU) Rankings.
The annual research found that while Oxford and Cambridge have maintained their positions as top five universities in the Global 2000 list, overall 60 per cent of UK universities slipped lower down the rankings.
By contrast, 96 per cent of Chinese universities ranked better than last year, led by Beijing’s Tsinghua University at number 44. Prof Irene Tracey, vice-chancellor of Oxford University, said the “significant investment and support given by countries like China” had most likely caused the decline in the rankings of some universities.
“We are in a global race and unless we meet this challenge, UK universities’ position as a science powerhouse and a key export is at risk,” she added.
Of the Russell Group’s 24 members, 14 ranked lower, including Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Glasgow, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield, Queen Mary University of London, Newcastle, Warwick, York, Durham and St Andrews.
The top three positions were all held by US universities, with Harvard in first place. However, both the US and UK are coming under pressure from China, which has continued to invest heavily in its universities sector.
UK universities have warned that their finances are being eroded by inflation, which has cut the value of home tuition fees by almost a third in real terms.
Tuition fees, which are the main source of income to fund teaching and learning, have risen by just £250 since they were set at £9,000 a year in 2012.
Lord Johnson of Marylebone, a former Conservative universities minister, said: “The relentless erosion of the value of capped domestic tuition fee income is putting universities on a fast track to mediocrity.”
A spokesman for the Russell Group said: “It is vital that we have a resilient funding system to address the growing per-student deficits that all universities are dealing with.”
The Department for Education declined to comment.