Four Scottish universities named among best in world

by Andrew Denholm© The Herald
Originally published: 10.10.2008

Scotland's universities are among the best in the world, according to global rankings published yesterday.

An international league table of the world's top 200 universities has ranked Edinburgh at number 23, making it the highest-placed Scottish university.

Glasgow University is also in the top 100, moving up 10 places from 83 last year to 73 in the tables published by the Times Higher Education Supplement.

St Andrews is also in the top 100, but has slipped from 76th last year to 83rd this year, while Aberdeen has dropped from 137 to 153.

The American universities of Harvard and Yale are first and second respectively, with Cambridge and Oxford slipping a place each to be ranked third and fourth.

There are 17 UK universities in the top 100, two fewer than last year. The US has 37 universities.

Last night, Sir Muir Russell, principal of Glasgow University, welcomed the impressive rise in the rankings, which comes at a time when the overall position of UK institutions has slipped compared to the elite US universities.

"These rankings reflect our place in global higher education. The quality of our teaching and research, allied to our provision of one of the best student experiences in the UK, makes us an attractive destination for students from across the UK and the world," he said.

"Over the past several years we have gone through a period of substantial change, which has allowed us to compete nationally and internationally, and to be counted in the top 100 is testament to the hard work of all our staff. It is also pleasing to see that four Scottish universities have made it into what is a very competitive top 200."

Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea, principal of Edinburgh University, added: "University league table places change constantly and we need to view them in the light of these fluctuations.

"Having said that, it is extremely gratifying to have held our position in the top 25 for the second year running against so many top-quality institutions from around the world. Indeed, it is great to see all four of Scotland's ancient universities ranked in the world's top 200."

Meanwhile, a group of leading universities that includes Glasgow and Edinburgh has warned that, without increased investment, the UK could lose its standing as a world leader for higher education.

We are concerned about our ability to sustain this level of success.

The Russell Group, which represents 20 research- intensive universities, said there was increasing global competition from other nations who were investing more money in higher education than the UK.

According to data published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last month, the UK spends less on higher education than most other OECD countries in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said that while they had reservations about the use and accuracy of "league tables", the group was pleased that their universities were continuing to perform well against major global competitors.

But she added: "We are very concerned about our ability to sustain this level of success in the face of fierce global competition. The table reflects the growing strength of our major competitors - particularly the US institutions - who benefit from much higher levels of investment than UK universities."

And Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union (Ucu) said: "Ucu has not been alone in highlighting the huge gap in public spending on higher education between the UK and other key competitor countries."

Leaders of learning 1 Harvard University, US 2 Yale University, US 3 University of Cambridge 4 University of Oxford 5 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), US 6 Imperial College London 7 University College London 8 University of Chicago, US 9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US 10 Columbia University, US 11 Pennsylvania University, US 12 Princeton University, US 13= Duke University, US 13= Johns Hopkins University, US 15 Cornell University, US 16 Australian National University, Australia 17 Stanford University, US 18 University of Michigan, US 19 University of Tokyo, Japan 20 McGill University, Canada 23 Edinburgh University 73 Glasgow University 83 St Andrews University 153 Aberdeen University