London named top city for Universities

London has been named the top city for university rankings, with four institutions in the global top 40 -more than any other city in the world.

Imperial College London was featured in the top ten of the Times Higher Education Rankings, while King’s College London, the London School of Economics and University College London all claimed places among the forty best institutions.

The University of Warwick was placed at 141 in a ranking headed by the California Institute of Technology.

Second-year Biomedical Sciences undergraduate Shannon Taggart told the Boar: “I think there is a slight bias towards London Universities in the rankings.

“It doesn’t really stack up that Warwick is ranked in the top ten nationally, but is only 141 in the global rankings.”

Jonny Baker, second-year Medicine undergraduate at Imperial College London, however, thought the high rankings of London universities were justified. He said: “London universities are very prestigious and attract a lot of talented overseas and homegrown students who don’t want the stuffy, old halls of Oxbridge and are looking for more of a link to industry.

London, being the nation’s capital, also has a very wide range of nightclubs and bars which makes for an incredible, if slightly expensive, social scene.”

The list has raised fears about Britain’s place as a centre of excellence in higher education.

Oxford University was the highest placed British institution, at joint second with Harvard, but Edinburgh, Warwick, Bristol, Sheffield, Southampton and Newcastle have all fallen in the latest edition of the rankings.

Peter Dunn, spokesperson for Warwick University, appeared unfazed by these developments.

He said: “There are three international world rankings, all of which place Warwick at wildly varying positions, so one should take all of those tables with a large pinch of salt.

Indeed, we say the very same thing about the UK only tables, although they are a little more consistent, all ranking Warwick in the top ten in the UK, so we must be doing something right.”

Second-year History and French undergraduate Louise Bond commented: “I think people can place too much emphasis on league tables.”

Christopher Snowden, president of Universities UK, added that the UK has “the second strongest university system in the World after the US,” with universities in the US taking up 15 of the positions in the top 20.