World politics make impact on Times Higher Education Rankings 2018

This year’s release of the Times Higher Education’s (THE) World University Rankings were overwhelmingly in favour of higher education institutions based in the UK. Amidst Brexit, many had assumed UK-based institutions would take a hit; however, for the first time since the ranking’s conception, UK universities hold the top two places.

The University of Oxford’s vice-chancellor Professor Richardson commented, “To be judged the best university in the world for the second successive year, against a backdrop in which Britain’s role in the world is uncertain and the place of universities in society open to question, will be a great source of pride for everyone at Oxford, and, I hope, for the whole country.” She further added, “success in our field is never an accident,” that it is “achieved by a relentless pursuit of excellence, creative brilliance and a deep commitment to our enduring values”.

The Trump regime may have been responsible for the US’s fall in rankings, as Caltech now stands at third, as compared to second last year and first between 2012 and 2016. THE further reports that two-firths of the US’s elite universities fell in overall rankings as well.

The University of Pennsylvania is a newcomer within the top 10 institutions of the world, at a firm tenth place with Switzerland’s ETH Zurich.

On the other side of the globe, Asia’s universities may have increasingly become a force to be reckoned with, while both Australia and Europe’s institutions hold steady. Proof of this is seen with both China’s institutions Peking University and Tsinghua University’s rise in rankings, both now within the world top 30. The National University of Singapore too has moved up from last year’s twenty-forth to twenty-second.

To check out the rest of the rankings, click here.