London gains in university league tables
TWO of London’s universities are among the 20 best higher education bodies in the world, the latest rankings from Times Higher Education show.
Imperial College London has been named the eighth best university globally, up from ninth place last year, while University College London rose five places to clinch 17th position in the annual rankings.
Oxford University has edged ahead of Cambridge, and is fourth in the world to Cambridge’s sixth.
Worldwide, the California Institute of Technology has taken the top spot from Harvard for the first time in eight years.
David Willetts, the UK minister for universities and science, said: “Only the US boasts more institutions than us in the top 200. Indeed, relative to our size and smaller per capita resources, we have – according to some measures – the world’s best-performing higher education sector.”
UK institutions lay claim to 32 places in the top 200, with Edinburgh, the London School of Economics and Manchester all in the top 50.
Outside the US and UK, the Netherlands and Germany have the most top 200 universities with 12, followed by Canada with nine and Australia with seven.
Thomson Reuters, which compiled the data, said this year’s rankings take into account academic reputation, research, teaching, the mix of subjects and international activity.