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Sixty per cent of UK universities featured in a leading global ranking have seen their position slip this year, as the sector struggles to keep up with increasing competition from Asia and mounting financial pressures.
The ratings of 54 out of the 90 British universities in the annual QS World University Ranking fell, including almost half of the elite Russell Group of research-intensive institutions.
High-ranking universities that registered steep declines included Edinburgh, which dropped seven places to 34th, and the London School of Economics and Political Science, which fell from 50th to 56th.
Imperial College London held on to second place in a field of more than 1,500 universities, while both Oxford and Cambridge slipped one place to fourth and sixth, respectively.
Jessica Turner, QS chief executive, said the UK could not afford to “rest on its laurels” and needed to increase investment to compete with “ambitious” overseas rivals.
“It’s not really that the institutions in the UK are getting worse, it’s that they cannot stand still given how competitive this space is,” she added.
There were some bright spots for the UK, with both Sheffield and Nottingham returning to the top 100 following double-digit rises in the ranking. King’s College London was also among the 24 universities to climb the list, rising from 40th to 31st place.
The rankings reflect a wider trend as Canada and Australia — two of the other key study destinations — struggle to compete in a higher education arms race with well-funded universities in China, India and south-east Asia.
The publication of the rankings on Thursday marks the second consecutive year where the majority of UK universities have seen their performance fall.
China has established its position over the past decade, with only the UK and US boasting a larger number of universities in the ranking. India is close behind with eight new entries this year.
Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan also performed strongly, with the majority of universities from these countries climbing in the rankings.
Turner said the gains reflected the region’s strategic approach to higher education, with universities capitalising on increased government funding to invest in research and attract more international and domestic students.
US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the rankings for the 14th year in a row and Stanford moved up three places to third place. Harvard dropped one place to fifth.
The rankings, which assess institutions across more than 100 higher education systems on a range of indicators including employer surveys and research citations, come as a sustained funding squeeze forces British universities to cut courses and staff.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, said the sector was already working “extensively” to address financial pressures. She added that a “long-term and lasting funding settlement” from the government would reverse the “slight downturn” in performance.
“Other governments around the world are making the decision to invest in their universities at a time when our government is being slow to do so. This decline isn’t inevitable,” she added.
