How the UK's top 10 universities compare on the world stage
The UK is undoubtedly home to some of the world’s very best universities. But as a new league table shows, what works well at home doesn’t always seem to translate to international success.
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00:00Hello, my name is Amber Allitt, and I'm a journalist specializing in education.
00:04The Times Higher Education's World University Rankings are out now, and interestingly, the
00:10UK schools that have come out on top look a little different than the top schools in
00:13the Times UK-wide university rankings, which came out in September.
00:18Here are a few interesting facts about some of the differences.
00:22The UK had three unis in the world top ten, Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College London.
00:28Oxford was actually in first place, although in the UK-wide rankings it had been nudged
00:33down to third.
00:34Imperial College came in ninth in the world, although it was only ranked sixth out of the
00:39UK universities.
00:40Some of our highest performers in the domestic list were actually hit really hard.
00:45Scotland's St Andrews, which came in second overall here, was ranked 185th in the world.
00:52It was outstripped by a whole collection of schools which didn't even make the top ten
00:56in the UK, including the University of Edinburgh at 29th overall, as well as the universities
01:01of Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, and Sheffield.
01:06Now it is worth noting that both lists do rank universities based on slightly different
01:10criteria.
01:11In the domestic rankings, graduate outcomes are of high importance, while things like
01:16sustainability and the U.K.'s tariff points of students they allow in also play a part.
01:22But on the world stage, things like reputation, international outlook, and the strength and
01:27influence of the university's research play a much bigger role.