Leader: Refining our global yardstick

Universities in the UK - even the most internationally minded - cannot serve the diverse needs of every country. But when a state that places such a high premium on education and science as Singapore believes that only Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London rank with leading US universities, the rest should be worried. Even if the Singaporeans are wrong, the perception would be highly damaging if it were widely shared.

Leading universities increasingly benchmark their performance in international terms. Both Bristol and Manchester universities have set themselves targets based on global competition, for example. But the apparent certainty of Singapore's officials about standards in scientific research contrasts with the variable results of published surveys. The Singaporean view that 30 US universities are better at science than all but the UK's top three is suspiciously close to the order produced last year by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. But, although biased in its methodology towards science, that was a ranking of whole universities. And even that exercise added University College London to this latest version of the golden triangle. In the first of our world rankings, US universities filled half of the top 40 places, but subsequent faculty-specific surveys were more wide ranging. In biomedicine, for example - one of Singapore's main priorities - the top 100 included ten British universities. Edinburgh University and King's College London, as well as UCL, appeared in the top 30. And Singapore's own Government has recognised a broader spread of excellence by inviting Warwick University to set up a campus on the island.

Yet it would be dangerous for universities to ignore the message from the Far East, especially given the growing reliance of many on overseas students and research contracts. They must engage in international marketing and in debate on global benchmarking. In the six months since the publication of our world rankings, there has been criticism from universities disappointed with their showing but few workable suggestions for improvements to the methodology. If the quality of UK universities is to be fully recognised abroad, an important step would be to reach a consensus on measuring standards.