Three quarters of British universities fall in world rankings

Just under three-quarters of listed British universities have fallen in the world rankings, according to new data.

A total of 62 of the 84 UK institutions ranked in the QS World University Rankings have seen their positions drop in the new table released on Wednesday.

Overall, 18 British universities made it to the top 100, with Oxford ranking highest in fifth, despite a drop of one place from last year.

The University of Cambridge is just below in seventh, while Imperial College London and University College London both also made the top 10 (eighth and 10th respectively.)

According to QS the two factors contributing most to these declines are decreases in teaching capacity and research impact at British universities.

Of the 84 ranked schools, 66 have seen their teaching/student ratio drop in the last year and 59 have had their score for research quality downgraded.

Ben Sowler, director of research at QS, said the British figures “reflect the increasing competitiveness of the global higher education landscape”.

He believes that investment in teaching “would serve the British higher education sector well, and help it to regain lost ground”.

Mr Sowler added: “So, too, would concerted efforts to ensure that Britain continues to remain an attractive place for talented academics and students to study in the future, and a national desire to continue collaborating with our European and global partners on transformative research projects.”