THE World University Rankings 2021 Released

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD HOLDS ONTO TOP SPOT IN TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS AS ASIA ENTERS TOP 20 FOR THE FIRST TIME, SIGNALLING WIDER CHALLENGES FOR THE WEST

• The UK’s University of Oxford retains top spot for the 5^th consecutive year, as Imperial College London loses top 10 position and UK sees concerning challenges
• US dominates top 10, claiming a record 8 positions, but US institutions outside top 200 show signs of decline
• Mainland China’s Tsinghua University becomes the first ever Asian university to make the overall top 20 (joint 20th)
• India sees record number of universities ranked (63)
• 141 universities debut in the rankings with France’s Paris-Saclay University (joint 178^th) ranking highest of the new entrants
• Record number of universities qualify for the 2021 ranking (1,527) from 93 countries or regions
• A record 18 countries or regions represented in the top 100
• US (59) is the top represented country or region in the top 200, followed by the UK (29), and Germany (21)
• View the full THE World University Rankings 2021 here: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2021/world-ranking
• View the THE World University Rankings 2021 methodology here: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/world-university-rankings-2021-methodology

London, 2 September 2020

Times Higher Education (THE), has today announced the results of its World University Rankings 2021, which underline the shifting strength of higher education and research around the world. The UK’s University of Oxford claims top spot for the 5th consecutive year, while US domination of the top 10 masks  wider decline, and mainland China's Tsinghua University becomes the first ever Asian university to break into the top 20 since the current methodology launched in 2011.

The THE World University Rankings are the most balanced and comprehensive global ranking, with 13 separate performance metrics covering the full range of core activities for research-intensive universities: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. This year’s ranking analysed over 86 million citations across more than 13.6 million research publications and included survey responses from 22,000 scholars globally.

The 17^th edition of the Rankings sees a record 18 countries and regions represented in the top 100, and 93 represented overall, demonstrating that geopolitical competition in the global knowledge economy is intensifying. Moreover, a record 1,527 institutions qualify for the 2021 edition, a 9% increase from the 2020 rankings when 1,397 institutions qualified.

Notwithstanding the success story of the University of Oxford, overall, the UK’s status as a higher education superpower is under challenge, as institutions from Asia continue to impress. Of the UK’s top 20 ranked institutions last year, only five were able to improve their position in the table. The US also sees the challenge from Asia affecting its performance. Its universities continue to perform well at the top end of the ranking, commanding the highest number of positions in the overall top 10 (8) since the rankings began, as the University of California, Berkeley, climbs 6 places, from joint 13^th to 7^th. However, 50% of the US’s top 20 performing universities from last year’s ranking fail to maintain their position. Over the past five years, the US has lost 4 positions in the overall top 200 (63 in 2016, 59 in 2021) as competition rises for the top places.

Asia’s rise is fronted by mainland China’s Tsinghua University (joint 20^th), which becomes the first Asian university ever to break into the THE World University Rankings top 20 since the current methodology launched in 2011. This achievement is an indicator of the wider positive movements in higher education for mainland China, and the rest of Asia in recent years. Since 2016, mainland China has gained 5 additional places in the top 200 (2 in 2016, 7 in 2021). It has also doubled its representation in the top 100 since last year, gaining 3 additional places (6 in total). Of the 7 universities that achieved a top 200 place in 2020, 85% improved their position in 2021, as mainland China continues to challenge the world’s very best.

In total, there are 16 Asian universities in the top 100, the highest total for Asia since the rankings began. Mainland China’s Fudan University (joint 70^th), Zhejiang University (joint 94^th), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (100^th, and South Korea’s Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (96^th), all move into the elite group. Of those 16 institutions, 13 of them either improved or maintained their position from last year, demonstrating the rising competition from Asia at the expense of western higher education systems.

In terms of top 200 representation, the US dominates (59), with the United Kingdom (29) and Germany (21) following in second and third. Overall, European representation is in a steady decline, losing 9 places in the past 5 years (105 in 2016, 96 in 2021). This is a result of China, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Canada all gaining positions in the same period. However, it is not all doom and gloom for Europe, as Germany’s top five performing universities in the 2021 ranking all improve or equal their 2020 ranking positions. Furthermore, Paris-Saclay University (178^th), formerly Paris-Sud University, is the highest ranked new entrant in this year’s ranking.

Table showing top 10 most represented countries and regions in World University Rankings

The THE World University Rankings 2021 sees 141 universities qualify for the first time. India has the highest total of new entrants, with 14, and sees a record number of ranked institutions as a result (63). After India, the US (13), mainland China (10), Russia, Japan, and Iran (all 9), bolster their representation in the rankings following a number of new entries. France’s Paris-Saclay University, formerly Paris-Sud University (joint 178th), is highest ranked new entrant in this year’s ranking. There is also a first ever entrant for Botswana: the University of Botswana (1001+).

Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer at THE, commented:

“We have observed the rise of Asia in the world rankings for several years now, but this year marks a major milestone, as mainland China’s Tsinghua University disrupts the traditional domination of western universities at the top of the table, breaking into the top 20 for the first time, and as mainland China doubles its representation in the top 100.

“This new ranking provides further clear evidence of a shift in the balance of power in the global knowledge economy from the established higher education systems in the west to those in parts of the east. This trend is likely to accelerate further as the coronavirus pandemic heralds a perfect storm of huge challenges for primarily western universities, particularly those in the US and UK, who face the very real risk of losing significant  international student talent, and the billions of dollars in fees that they bring. In the longer term, possibly permanent shifts in the global flow of academic talent that has traditionally fuelled the elite institutions of the US and UK could create real challenges.

While the universities at the very top of the table, with long histories of success and prestige, will prove hard to unseat, these factors, combined with the effects of a possible deep and long-lasting global recession and its likely impact on university funding levels, could herald the start a dramatic re-balancing of the global knowledge economy.”