Scotland has five universities in top 200

FIVE Scottish universities have been named on a list of the world’s 200 top higher education institutions.

Edinburgh University was the highest placed, climbing to No 36 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The university, which came 40th last year, was the fifth highest placed UK institution this time around.

St Andrews University was at No 85, while Glasgow was rated 102. Aberdeen was joint 151st and Dundee was 176th in the top 200 list.

Twenty-seven universities from across the rest of the UK appear in the 2011-12 league table as opposed to 24 last year.

The top slot was taken by the California Institute of Technology, while Harvard and Stanford tied for second. Oxford was the top placed UK institution at No 4.

Universities Scotland director Alastair Sim said: “Scotland’s universities continue to punch above their weight. For a country Scotland’s size, this is a remarkable achievement.

“Scotland’s universities cannot afford to be complacent – the global environment for higher education is brutally competitive.”