UK drops down global university league table

Commenting on the Times Higher Education '100 Under 50' published today, UCU said that only increased investment can give UK universities a fighting chance on the increasingly dynamic world stage.

A report last week showed that Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Greece are the only European countries that spend less, as a proportion of their gross domestic product, on higher education than the UK. While the UK holds on to its position in today's table as the country with the most universities in the top 100 (18), it has lost ground in terms of individual institutions' rankings:

• the UK's 2012 tally of three top 10 universities has fallen to just one - the University of York, which climbs one place from eighth to seventh
• it is followed by the University of Warwick (at number 13 again this year), Lancaster University (down from ninth to 14th) and the University of East Anglia (down from 10th to 16th)
• City University London and the University of Bradford have both dropped out of the top 100
• the Open University is the only new British entry, taking joint 99th position
• only three UK universities founded more recently than the 1960s make the list: Plymouth University (joint 53rd), the University of Hertfordshire (75th) and Liverpool John Moores University (joint 88th).

UCU president, Simon Renton, said: 'Only with increased investment does the UK have a fighting chance of competing on this increasingly dynamic world stage where developing countries have proved they can set up world class players in just 20 years.

'The days where we could take our historical dominance for granted are over. These countries are investing heavily in higher education and if we don't do the same, UK higher education plc will be usurped.'

The list includes eight Asian countries, with South Korea scooping two of the top three places, a Hong Kong university at number four, and a Singaporean institution at number eight. Taiwan has five institutions on the list.

The world number one, South Korea's Postech, was founded in 1986: two other East Asian institutions in the top 10, Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology were created within the past two decades.

UCU said the table showed the massive potential of developing countries, as they proved they can create world-class institutions within two decades. Universities were ranked on 13 indicators across five areas - research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international activity.

A host of organisations across further and higher education are calling on the government to properly invest in education to ensure that the UK is not left behind. More on that can be found at www.knowledgeeconomy.org.uk