Ten UK universities are in the Times Higher Education (THE) world reputation ranking’s top 100, but many of these have fallen down the rankings compared to one year ago.
Cambridge fell two places to fourth, while Oxford also fell two places to 5th, compared to their 2015 rankings. Harvard came top, followed by MIT and Stanford, all of which are in the USA. The remainder of the top ten were all American institutions.
The only UK university to rise in the rankings was London Business School, while Warwick remained in the same position as last year. Imperial College London dropped to 15th position, University College London dropped to 20th, and the London School of Economics fell to 25th position.
There were 10 UK universities in the top 100, down from 12 in 2015, as the University of Bristol and Durham University fell out of the top 100.
“These rankings can be seen as a warning that the rest of the world is catching up with us and Asian universities in particular are snapping at our heels,” said Dr Wendy Piatt, the director general of the Russell Group.
“We risk losing out on further business and overseas funding unless there is greater investment in our world-class universities and a more risk-based, proportionate approach to regulation. Our key international competitors recognise that world-class universities are central to their success,” she continued.