UK has four universities in global top ten
UK universities earn four places in global top ten as Times Higher Education top 100 is released
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The UK has had four of its universities placed in the top ten institutions in the world.
The table is put together by the Times Higher Education survey, based on a survey of academics and graduate employers worldwide.
This year the US lost six universities in the top 100, and Oxford University slipped from fourth to fifth place. Harvard was still top, with Cambridge moving up from third to second place.
The table showed good news for Europe as a whole, which saw its universities gain three more places in the top 100, from 36 last year to 39 this year.
Ben Sowter, head of the QS Intelligence Unit, which compiled the rankings, said: "The rise of University College London and Imperial College in recent years shows that concerted research efforts can result in improved performance in the increasingly competitive field of global higher education."
And the Russell Group, who are committed to maintaining the highest standards of research, education and knowledge at UK universities said the results are good but more investment is need.
Today's table showed four Russell Group universities in the top six in the world.
Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of The Russell Group of Universities, said: "The broad message of these tables is clear - the leading UK research universities are held in high esteem internationally but countries like China and Korea, which are investing massively in their best institutions, are snapping at our heels.
"The UK has been punching above its weight for some time. As a recent OECD report highlighted, our competitor countries are investing much more of both public and private money in higher education - with the UK below average in terms of total HE investment as a proportion of GDP.
"If we allow ourselves to fall behind our international rivals, we will lose our ability to attract the world class academics, vital business investment and leading international students. League table bragging rights would be the least of our worries."
The top ten universities in the world, according to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, are:
Harvard University (US)
University of Cambridge (UK)
Yale University (US)
UCL (University College London) (UK)
Imperial College London (joint with Oxford) (UK)
University of Oxford (joint with Imperial) (UK)
University of Chicago (US)
Princeton University (US)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
California Institute of Technology (US)