Cambridge falls to its lowest ever place in global league table

Cambridge falls to its lowest ever place in global league table as two thirds of British universities drop down the rankings

  • Cambridge drops one place to 7th and is now three places below Oxford (4th) 
  • UK records third-worst performance in QS World University Rankings this year
  • Average rank of the 84 ranked UK institutions decreases by nearly 13 places
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology stays top ahead of Stanford and Harvard 

Cambridge has fallen to its lowest ever place in a well-respected global league table as two thirds of British universities fell down the rankings.

The University of Cambridge dropped a place to seventh and is now three places below its main rival the University of Oxford, which rose one spot to fourth.

The UK recorded its third-worst performance in the rankings this year with the average rank of the 84 ranked UK institutions decreasing by nearly 13 places.

1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US stayed top for the eighth year in a row

2) Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, retained second place in the latest table

2) Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, retained second place in the latest table

3) Stanford University in the US, where graduating students are seen on Sunday, stayed in third

3) Stanford University in the US, where graduating students are seen on Sunday, stayed in third

University College London however rose two places to eighth in the QS World University Rankings, while Imperial College London fell one place to ninth.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology retained top place for the eighth year in a row, ahead of Stanford and Harvard – which stayed in second and third respectively.

QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 
2020 RANKING 2019 RANKING UNIVERSITY COUNTRY
1 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology US
2 2 Stanford University US
3 3 Harvard University US
4 5 University of Oxford UK
5 4 California Institute of Technology US
6 7 ETH Zurich Switzerland
7 6 University of Cambridge UK
8 10 University College London UK
9 8 Imperial College London UK
10 9 University of Chicago US
11= 12 Nanyang Technological University Singapore
11= 11 National University of Singapore Singapore
13 13 Princeton University US
14 14 Cornell University US
15 19 University of Pennsylvania US
16 17 Tsinghua University Switzerland
17 15 Yale University US
18= 16 Columbia University US
18= 22 Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Switzerland
20 18 University of Edinburgh UK

The rankings examine 1,000 universities through research impact, academic standing, student/staff ratio, graduate employability and teaching capacity.

The other three universities in the top ten are the California Institute of Technology in fifth, ETH Zurich in sixth and the University of Chicago in tenth.

Those behind the data for QS, which has 14 offices around the world including in London and Paris, said the fall comes amid declining international student ratios across UK and US universities.

The experts added that the US recorded its worst performance in rankings history with only 16 per cent of universities improving their rank.

But 69 per cent of Australian universities saw their ranks improve in the latest rankings, suggesting they might be attracting international students not wishing to study in the US and UK.

Researchers surveyed 94,000 academics and 44,000 hiring managers and analysed 11.8million research papers along with 100 million citations. 

In Asia, the top two universities are the National University of Singapore and its compatriot Nanyang Technological University at a shared 11th spot.

China is still seeing impressive growth with the nation now boasting 19 of the world’s top 200 research universities, increasing from 12 in 2016.

In Latin America, the top university for the fifth year in a row is the Universidad de Buenos Aires (74th), while the highest in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz University (186th). 

Ben Sowter, QS’s director of research, told the Guardian: ‘For decades, UK higher education has been one of the country’s finest exports to the world. 

‘The sector has produced outstanding research, fostered world-class teaching, forged transformational links to industry and welcomed millions of talented young people.

‘To ensure that this privileged situation continues, it is essential that those with the power to do so redouble their efforts to improve teaching capacity so as to reduce the burden on passionate but beleaguered academics, reach a clear conclusion about the fee status of EU students post-Brexit and do their utmost to ensure that the UK remains a part of EU research collaboration frameworks into the future.’

The University of Cambridge declined to comment when approached by MailOnline. 

4) The University of Oxford, which All Souls College is part of, rose to fourth in the table

4) The University of Oxford, which All Souls College is part of, rose to fourth in the table

5) California Institute of Technology in the US completed the top five but slipped one place

5) California Institute of Technology in the US completed the top five but slipped one place

7) The University of Cambridge dropped a place to seventh as it fell to its lowest ever position

7) The University of Cambridge dropped a place to seventh as it fell to its lowest ever position

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