New European university rankings show the UK leads top 100 European university ranking with nearly a quarter of all places on the list, but Germany is catching up say Espinoza and Gurney-Read in an article (The Telegraph of 10 March 2016).
The top 200 universities in Europe ranking reveals that the UK is leading the way with nearly a quarter of all places on the list. However, despite the UK having 46 institutions in the top 200, Germany is catching up, with 36 universities in the rankings and a spot in the top 10, according to the Times Higher Education (THE). According to the figures, the University of Oxford is the top ranked institution in Europe, while the University of Cambridge is placed second, with Imperial College London taking third.
According to Espinoza and Gurney-Read, “Also in the top 10 are University College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London. The German university, LMU Munich, ranks in tenth place while Sweden and Switzerland are also represented. Scandinavian countries performed well in the rankings with Sweden and Finland having six and 11 institutions respectively in the top 200. Russia, however, was “the surprise underperformer”, with just five institutions in the top 200, making it the lowest-ranked country relative to its population and Gross Domestic Product – although it ranks highly relative to its GDP per capita.
However, despite leading the rankings, Phil Baty, THE rankings editor, said Germany was a serious challenger to the UK due to the scrapping of tuition fees and the high number of taught English degrees offered. “International students are hugely important to the health of the UK higher education system and the wider economy.” Mr Baty said: “International students are hugely important to the health of the UK higher education system and the wider economy. They spend about £4.5 billion on tuition fees and accommodation alone, but they also add much to the overall student experience by supporting a rich, multicultural campus life for all students. But this vital lifeline is increasingly at risk – for the first time this year the UK saw international student numbers stagnate, with significant drops from some countries.”
He warned: “Not only are our restrictive immigration policies and the noisy rhetoric surrounding the issue leading many students to perceive that they are not welcome in the UK, we are also seeing the increasing popularity of European universities which are often just as highly ranked as their UK competitors but also much, much cheaper to study with.”
Top 100 European universities:
1. University of Oxford UK
2. University of Cambridge UK
3. Imperial College London UK
4. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich Switzerland
5. University College London UK
6. London School of Economics and Political Science UK
7. University of Edinburgh UK
8. King’s College London UK
9. Karolinska Institute Sweden
10. LMU Munich Germany
11. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
12. KU Leuven Belgium
13. Heidelberg University Germany
14. Wageningen University and Research Center Netherlands
15. Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
16. Technical University of Munich Germany
17. École Normale Supérieure France
18. University of Manchester UK
19. University of Amsterdam Netherlands
20.Utrecht University Netherlands
21. Delft University of Technology Netherlands
22. Leiden University Netherlands
23. University of Bristol UK
24. Durham University UK
25. Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
26. Free University of Berlin Germany
27. University of Groningen Netherlands
=28. University of Glasgow UK
=28. University of Helsinki Finland
30. University of Tübingen Germany
31. University of Warwick UK
32. Uppsala University Sweden
33. University of Copenhagen Denmark
34. University of Freiburg Germany
35. University of St Andrews UK
36. Maastricht University Netherlands
37. Lund University Sweden
38. University of Exeter UK
39. University of Bonn Germany
40. University of Sheffield UK
41. Queen Mary University of London UK
42. University of Göttingen Germany
=43.École Polytechnique France
=43. University of Basel Switzerland
45. University of Zurich Switzerland
=46. Aarhus University Denmark
=46. University of Mannheim Germany
=48. RWTH Aachen University Germany
=48. University of Southampton UK
50. Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Italy
51. Pierre and Marie Curie University France
52. Ghent University Belgium
53. University of Birmingham UK
54. University of Bern Switzerland
55. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
=56. Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
=56. University of Münster Germany
58. Royal Holloway, University of London UK
59. Lancaster University UK
=60. University of Geneva Switzerland
=60. University of York UK
62. University of Leeds UK
63. University of Oslo Norway
64. Stockholm University Sweden
65. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
66. University of Sussex UK
67. University of Vienna Austria
68. University of Nottingham UK
- 69. University of Lausanne Switzerland
70. Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
=71. University of East AngliaUK
=71. University of Twente Netherlands
73. VU University Amsterdam Netherlands
74. KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
75. University of Cologne Germany
76. University of LiverpoolUK
77. Dresden University of Technology Germany
78. Trinity College Dublin Republic of Ireland
79. Lomonosov Moscow State University Russian Federation
=80. Pompeu Fabra University Spain
=80. University of Reading UK
=82. Technical University of Denmark Denmark
=82. Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
=82. University of Leicester UK
85. University of Aberdeen UK
86. University of Barcelona Spain
87. University of Konstanz Germany
=88. Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
=88. University College Dublin Republic of Ireland
=90. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Italy
=90. University of Gothenburg Sweden
=92. Cardiff University UK
=92. University of Bergen Norway
=94. University of Dundee UK
=94. University of Würzburg Germany
96. Paris-Sud University France
97. University of Antwerp Belgium
98. Ulm University Germany
99. University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
100. Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Germany
Full results can be seen on the Times Higher Education page
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