University of Glasgow rises in list of world's top universities

The University of Glasgow has risen eight places in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

University of Glasgow. Picture: John Devlin

The Glasgow institution climbed to 80th position in the annual league table while the University of Edinburgh retained its position at number 27.

Oxford held on to first place in the latest annual Times Higher Education World University Rankings, with Cambridge rising from fourth place to take second.

It is the first time that the two universities have taken the top two spots in the 13-year history of the rankings.

Out of 31 UK universities to make the top 200, 16 have seen a fall in their position, compared to last year.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Glasgow said, “I am absolutely delighted that the University of Glasgow has risen eight places in the global world rankings to 80th position. This news underlines the strength and quality of teaching at the University of Glasgow, as well as recognising the tremendous student experience that we offer. The rankings rise comes as we embark on a £1bn redevelopment and expansion of our main campus. The new facilities will be truly world leading and further confirm Glasgow as a global centre for learning, teaching and research.

Phil Baty, editorial director of the THE global rankings, said UK higher education is facing “intense political pressure”, but that the data shows that the nation has “many of the very best universities in the world”.

Overall, the rankings show Oxford in first place, followed by Cambridge and then the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which drops one place to joint third with Stanford University, also in the United States.

Rounding out the top five is another US institution, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rankings authors said that results at the top were “extremely tight”, with all top-ranked universities performing well against the 13 factors used to measure performance, but that one reason for Oxbridge’s success is that both have seen significant increases in their total institutional income this year.

Mr Baty said: “The UK higher education system is facing intense political pressure, with questions over the value for money provided by £9,250 tuition fees in England, our continued attractiveness to international students, the flow of research funding and academic talent post-Brexit, and even levels of vice-chancellors’ pay.

“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.

“The data shows UK universities are consistently producing ground-breaking new research which is driving innovation, they are attracting international students and academic talent and are providing a world-class teaching environment.

“They are a huge national asset, and one that the country can ill afford to undermine at a time when its place in the global order is under intense scrutiny.”

Here is the list of the UK universities in the top 200 of the latest THE World University Rankings. Last year’s positions are in brackets. = denotes joint position.

:: 1 (1) University of Oxford

:: 2 (4) University of Cambridge

:: 8 (8) Imperial College London

:: 16 (15) University College London

:: =25 (=25) London School of Economics and Political Science

:: =27 (27) University of Edinburgh

:: 36 (=36) King’s College London

::=54 (55) University of Manchester

:: 76 (71) University of Bristol

:: =80 (88) University of Glasgow

:: 91 (=82) University of Warwick

:: 97 (=96) Durham University

:: 104 (109) University of Sheffield

:: 121 (=113) Queen Mary University of London

:: =126 (=121) University of Southampton

:: =130 (=126) University of Exeter

:: =137 (129) University of York

:: 139 (133) University of Leeds

:: =141 (130) University of Birmingham

:: =143 (=110) University of St Andrews

:: =147 (147) University of Nottingham

:: =147 (149) University of Sussex

:: =150 (=137) Lancaster University

:: =159 (172) University of Leicester

:: =162 (=182) Cardiff University

:: =175 (=190) Newcastle University

:: =177 (158) University of Liverpool

:: 185 (=188) University of Aberdeen

:: 187 (=180) University of Dundee

:: =188 (=165) University of East Anglia

:: 197 (=173) Royal Holloway, University of London

The rankings, which include 1,000 universities around the world, rank institutions on 12 measures grouped into five areas - teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.