UK’s University of Oxford retains first place in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the sixth consecutive year as the US and UK take all top ten positions for the second year running.
In Asia, mainland China registers its highest ever position in the ranking (16th) and sees a record 10 universities reach the world top 200, while South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong all achieve their highest positions under the current methodology.
Dramatic improvements for the Middle East, as Saudi Arabia and Egypt emerge as the fastest-rising countries in the world.
A record 1,662 universities from 99 countries and regions are part of this year’s rankings as the competition in the global knowledge economy intensifies.
The University of Oxford, which led the way in the global search for a Covid-19 vaccine, has been named the world’s number one university for a sixth consecutive year in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings – in a period when the global rush for research into the virus has provided a further boost to mainland China’s rapid rise up the global rankings.
Oxford came top from a record 1,662 universities from 99 countries and regions that made it into the ranking, which is based on 13 balanced performance indicators and includes an analysis of 108 million citations from 14.4 million research publications – designed to recognise universities’ role in spreading new knowledge – as well as a survey of 22,000 academics worldwide.
