THE WORLDWIDE university rankings have been revealed.
The University of Oxford has become the first institution to retain top spot in the international league table for the sixth year in a row.
The University of Sussex has been listed joint 151st – climbing nine places in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The institution has also maintained its position among the highest-ranked in the UK, having been ranked 21st out of 101 UK institutions this year.
Brighton and Sussex Medical School ranked between 201 and 250, while the University of Brighton ranked between 601 and 800.
Several UK universities climbed the rankings, with Cambridge rising from sixth to fifth place and the University of Manchester moving into the top 50.
Overall, the UK has 28 universities in the top 200, down from 29 last year.
The annual list rates more than 1,600 universities from 99 countries and regions across five areas - teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.
Professor Rachel Mills, University of Sussex provost, said: “We are extremely proud that we continue to improve in global rankings, particularly as the competition becomes more and more intense.
“We are regularly placed in or around the top 20 universities in the UK in global rankings. We now must focus on delivering an outstanding student experience, so we can achieve this standing in all league tables.”
The University of Sussex says the rise up the rankings was largely driven by significant improvement in the field weighted citation of Sussex research publications.
Among the university’s most highly-cited studies for 2020, Professor John Drury (psychology) co-authored a paper using social and behavioural science to support Covid-19 pandemic response.
It also includes Prof Alessandro Cerri (mathematical and physical sciences) contribution to Review of Particle Physics, which listed, evaluated and average-measured properties of subatomic particles.
Oxford was named the best-performing university globally, ahead of California Institute of Technology and Harvard University in the United States, which took joint second place.
US universities dominated the top 10 in the rankings, claiming eight places for the second year in a row.
Stanford University in the US came fourth, while the University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) both took fifth place.
Imperial College London took 12th, while University College London (UCL) fell from 16th place to joint 18th place.
Also making it into the top 50 were the London School of Economics and Political Science (27th), University of Edinburgh (30th), King’s College London (35th) and University of Manchester (50th).
Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at Times Higher Education, said: “Although the UK has seen some good results this year, Covid-19 has provided new challenges to add to those related to the impact of Brexit.
“These challenges mean the UK must work hard to attract international students and academic talent to contribute to its knowledge economy in both the short and long-term.
“With mainland China and Germany rising, this will be essential for the UK to retain its position as a higher education superpower.”
Here is the list of the UK universities in the top 200, with last year’s rankings in brackets:
1 (1) University of Oxford
=5 (6) University of Cambridge
12 (11) Imperial College London
=18 (16) University College London
27 (27) London School of Economics and Political Science
=30 (30) University of Edinburgh
=35 (35) King’s College London
50 (=51) University of Manchester
=78 (77) University of Warwick
=86 (=92) University of Glasgow
92 (91) University of Bristol
=105 (=107) University of Birmingham
110 (=121) University of Sheffield
=117 (110) Queen Mary, University of London
=122 (=136) Lancaster University
124 (=127) University of Southampton
=127 (=160) University of Leeds
141 (=158) University of Nottingham
=143 (=174) University of Exeter
=146 (=178) Newcastle University
=151 (=160) University of Sussex
=158 (=178) University of Aberdeen
=162 (=149) Durham University
169 (=133) University of York
=178 (163) University of Liverpool
182 (=200) University of East Anglia
=185 (=170) University of Leicester
189 (=191) Cardiff University
= denotes joint position with another university.
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