Oxford and Cambridge ranked the top two universities in the world

Both Oxford and Cambridge have secured the top two positions within The Times 2018 Higher Education World University Rankings. This is the first time in over 14 years that an American University has not been ranked either first or second within the Times Higher Education Table, which was officially released last month.

Oxford was awarded first place within the 2018 rankings, with the University of Cambridge in second. The California Institute of Technology was the top performing American University within the league tables, and was ranked third, whilst Harvard University, previously the top ranker, has now dropped to sixth place.

The league tables rank 1,000 universities across the globe, the highest number to date, which represent 77 different countries. The rankings assess institutions on a variety of factors, such as teaching, research, citations, international outcome and industry income.

Within these categories, key factors are also assessed, such as the number of students to staff, the percentage of international students and the female:male ratio. Oxford is reported to have ratios of around 11 students per staff member, and a ratio of 46 women per 100 students, whilst 38% of the university’s students come from outside of the UK.

This year Harvard had an average ratio of 8 students to 1 staff member, but only 26% of its students were reported to be from outside of America. No data was released on the university’s male-to-female ratio.

The University of Warwick, which was ranked in joint-82nd place in the 2016-17 Times University Rankings, has now fallen to 91st place.

Around half of the top 200 universities within the league tables were those based within Europe, within many institutions across Asia displacing previously high ranking Italian, Spanish and Swiss universities this year. China was the highest-ranking country within Asia, with both the University of Peking and Tsinghua now ranking within the top 30 universities worldwide.

Russian universities were also reported to have made big advances within the league table this year, reportedly benefiting from increased government funding and a more concentrated attempt to improve student mobility. Of the 24 universities from Russia included in this year’s ranking, only three have fallen compared to last year, whilst some increased their overall positions.