UCU comment on World University Rankings 2008

The union also warned that threats to freeze pay and the high levels of casualisation in UK institutions needed to be urgently addressed.
 
The Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2008 released today show a slight drop overall for UK institutions. UCU said that the fact UK institutions still enjoyed such a strong showing in the world rankings was a testament to the hard work of the country's university staff, but warned they could not continue to deliver without the necessary investment.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'UCU has not been alone in highlighting the huge gap in public spending on higher education between the UK and other key competitor countries. The US, for example, spends more than twice on its universities than we do as a percentage of gross domestic product.
 
'That so much is delivered with less funding makes the achievements of our universities and, in particular, their staff all the more impressive. However, higher education is still blighted by high levels of casualisation and recent employer threats of a pay freeze do nothing to motivate these hard-working and long-suffering staff. The slight drop in the rankings this year must serve as a warning that unless the extra funding is found to address these problems then the UK's position as a global leader in higher education is at risk.'