Times Higher Education World recently revealed 2018 edition of the Universities Rankings. According to results, the first time in the history European institutions has claimed the top two positions at The University of Cambridge has climbed two places to sit behind the University of Oxford in this year’s ranking.
In the meantime, Asian universities also got a larger share in the ranking chart nearer the top of the rankings in the table.
According to the World University Ranking which was released earlier this week, the UK’s University of Oxford retains the top position by getting first place in the chart again this year.
The situation was totally diverse some years ago as Caltech held the top spot in the league table for five successive years before the University of Oxford.
Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology both gets third place in the chart.
However, US universities have declined their status among the top-ranked institutions, with a total of seven features in the top 10 – the equivalent amount as last year.
The fifth position is got by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Maintaining the last year’s positions Harvard University is at rank 6, Princeton University at 7 and Imperial College London is at 8th position.
On the other hand, Asian universities are giving tough time to Europe as they set in motion to overhaul European institutions in the league chart.
The National University of Singapore is appeared to be Asia’s highest ranked institution at 22, jumping up two places from last year ranking.
The top two Chinese universities have also get superior in the rankings since Peking University advanced the 27th rank from 29th last year, and Tsinghua University ranking at 30th from 35th.
Top 10 World University Rankings 2018
–1. University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
3= California Institute of Technology
3= Stanford University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Princeton University
- Imperial College London
- University of Chicago
10= ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
10= University of Pennsylvania
The rankings chart consists of the world’s top 1,000 universities across 77 countries.
While the number of institutions in Asia in the top 30 has increased from two to three this year, Europe now has seven institutions in the top 30, down from 10 last year.
Phil Baty editorial director, global rankings at THE, said “There are signs that Asia is starting to threaten the position of some of Europe’s leading institutions,” adding that Brexit also poses a risk to UK universities’ success.
“Europe will need to work hard to ensure it can sustain its performance in future years,” he added.
The UK higher education system is facing a number of factors, including political pressure, the flow of researching funding, and attractiveness to international students said Baty.
“But one thing this new data makes absolutely clear is that the UK has many of the very best universities in the world and it has one of the world’s strongest higher education systems,” he said.
Tim Bradshaw, who is acting director of the Russell Group, believed that the leading universities “will have a crucial role to play in enabling the UK to thrive and prosper in a post-Brexit world”.
“They are one of the most important drivers of inward investment and local, regional and national growth through the flow of talent and ideas,” he added.
“To maximize their impact and contribution in the years ahead, they must be at the heart of the new industrial strategy and supported by a funding system that is sustainable over the long-term.” He added.
