UK universities boosted by new list but Edinburgh University falls out of top 20

Published on 11/09/2012 11:18

FOUR of the top six universities in the world are in the UK, but Scotland no longer has a university in the top 20, according to a university league table published today.

• Four of top six universities in the world are in the UK

• Cambridge University loses top spot to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

• Edinburgh University slips one place, while Glasgow University and St Andrews University both climb table

Cambridge University - which lost its coveted first position to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - and Oxford University retain their places at the top tier of higher education in the UK in the annual QS World University Rankings.

Also included in the top spots are University College London (UCL) in fourth place and Imperial College London in sixth. The other universities in the top 10 were all institutions in the United States.

Scottish universities remain out of reach of the elite UK institutions in the table, with the most highly ranked Scottish university, Edinburgh University, slipping outside of the top 20.

However, Glasgow University received a boost as it was elevated five places to 54th. St Andrews also benefited, climbing four places to 93rd.

In total, eight UK universities were in the top 50, and 18 overall in the top 100.

The table also shows that universities are taking on more international students than before. The top 100 universities have almost 10 per cent more overseas students on average this year, compared to 2011.

And the 49 UK universities in the top 500 list have seen an 11.7 per cent average increase in international students, compared to the previous year.

Six of the top 20 universities with the highest proportion of overseas students are in the UK - they are the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UCL, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), St Andrews, Imperial and Essex.

QS head of research Ben Sowter said: “The unprecedented acceleration in international recruitment reflects an escalating global battle for talent.

“120,000 more international students were reported by the top 500 universities this year, suggesting the global total may now exceed 4 million.”

The UK universities to make the top 100 are: Cambridge University (2), UCL (4), Oxford University (5), Imperial College London (6), Edinburgh University (21), King’s College London (KCL) (26), Bristol University (28), Manchester University (32), Glasgow University (54), Warwick University (58), Sheffield University (66), LSE (69), Nottingham University (72), Southampton University (73), Birmingham University (77), Durham University (92), St Andrews University (93), Leeds University (94).