Capital uni in world top 50

The University of Edinburgh is one of only five UK universities ranked in the world's top 50, according to an annual league table published today.

Cambridge and Oxford are joint sixth, Imperial College London is ranked ninth, University College London is 22nd and Edinburgh is 40th, according to the 2010-11 World University Rankings published by the Times Higher Education magazine.

The US dominates the table, with 72 institutions in the top 200, and all five top places, including Harvard at number one.

The UK, which historically viewed its higher education sector as world-leading, has just 14 universities in the top 100.