British Universities Lose Ground to their Richer Foreign Rivals

British universities have slipped down the world rankings as they compete ever harder with eminent institutions overseas.

Cambridge and Oxford have lost ground to Harvard and Yale, while fewer British universities are in the top 200 list, published today, than last year.

At a time when it is essential for British institutions to attract lucrative international students who pay higher fees, they are being outdone increasingly by American universities that receive huge endowments. Harvard tops the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings for the fifth consecutive year. Its endowment fund is greater than the total annual public funding for all universities in England.

Yale holds the second spot after being joint second with Cambridge and Oxford last year. The two British institutions came third and fourth respectively this year.

Four British universities are in the top 10, the same as last year. Imperial College London fell from fifth to sixth place while University College London rose from ninth to seventh.

In all, 17 universities in Britain made it into the top 100 list, down from 19 last year. More than a third of the top 100 are based in the US.

Vice-Chancellors and commentators voiced concern that, without an increase in investment, Britain’s standing as a first-class destination for higher education could be under threat.

Wendy Piatt, director-general of the Russell Group of leading universities, said that its members were performing well against international rivals, adding: “The list reflects the growing strength of our major competitors – particularly the US institutions – which benefit from much higher levels of investment than UK universities. Without increased investment there is a real danger that the UK’s success will not be sustained. As a result of huge investment in higher education and science in recent years, China is likely to overtake the UK very soon in terms of total research publications, and its universities have been steadily climbing up international league tables.”

The Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings had 29 British universities in the top 200, one fewer than last year. Of these, 22 had slipped down the rankings. The rise of Asian institutions is reflected in the inclusion of nine of them within the top 50, including three based in Hong Kong. Two new entrants this year are Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Seoul National University.

A spokesman for Quacquarelli Symonds, which conducted the research, said that its findings also reflected the higher profile of technology-based universities.

Ann Mroz, the editor of Times Higher Education, said: “UK universities are very clearly among the world’s best and have maintained good positions in the rankings this year. But the fact that Cambridge and Oxford have slipped down the top ten and that US universities have cemented their dominance among the world’s elite, at the UK’s expense, raises key questions about the future funding of the sector. As a percentage of gross domestic product, the US spends more than twice as much on its universities as the UK does.”

The rankings – which are now in their fifth year – are based on surveys of academics and graduate employers about which they consider the best universities in their fields, the ratio of students to academics, the proportion of overseas students and staff at each university, and the number of times research by each university’s academics is quoted in other journals.

By Nicola Woolcock

The Times, 9 October 2008