UK Thrives at World University Rankings 2015

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings has recently released its 2015-2016 list of the 800 best global universities, and results show that the United Kingdom has surpassed its already impressive standing last year. It boasts of 78 universities overall on the list, 34 of which are in the top 200. Majority of UK universities on the ranking list last year have moved up. University of Oxford climbs to second place, University of Cambridge is in fourth place and Imperial College London comes in eighth. University of St Andrews, University of Warwick and University of Exeter have moved up by a substantial margin.
Although Times Higher Education world university rankings editor Phil Baty referred to the UK as a “stand-out performer,” higher education funding cuts and immigration measures that affect overseas students may derail its strong performance in the future.

The United States of America continues to be a force to reckon with in the education department, being able to land the top spot as California Institute of Technology has been named the number one university for the fifth consecutive year. There are a total of 147 US institutions on the list. While USA remains superior in the rankings this year, its dominance has declined a bit. With seven universities in the top 10 list last year, it is currently down to six; from last year’s 45 out of the top 100, it is down to 39 this year.

Fourth in the world is Germany, with 20 universities in the top 200, while Netherlands comes in next with 12. Europe has an overall total of 345 universities in the top 800. Switzerland’s ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) is the first non-Anglo-American university to be in the top 10 for a decade.

The results of the rankings also show that the UK universities have the second highest percentage of international students in the top 200.

Top 10 Times Higher Education World University Rankings

1. California Institute of Technology (USA)
2. University of Oxford (UK)
3. Stanford University (USA)
4. University of Cambridge (UK)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
6. Harvard University (USA)
7. Princeton University (USA)
8. Imperial College London (UK)
9. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)
10. University of Chicago (USA)