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Higher education has been turned on its head after the University College of London overtook Oxford in a league table. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings list said UCL had become more than a "global super brand" and hailed its rise as "meteoric." Traditionalists had already warned that the dreamy spires of Oxbridge were in danger of losing their esteemed position as elite world institutions - just yesterday the outgoing vice-chancellor of Oxford warned that the university was in "grave" danger and facilities were "unfit for purpose". The Bloomsbury based university jumped from seventh to forth, outstripping Imperial Collage and leading the British pack of 19 in the world's top 100. Phil Baty, the league table editor said UCL "gained points over Oxford for having a higher proportion of international students on its campus, and it achieved a higher score for its research excellence, suggesting that the work of its researchers has become more influential." Their research in global health and climate change has been heralded as pioneering. Competition from the East The UK had more top-rated institutions than any other country outside the United States - four British universities were among the top 10 for the third successive year despite tough competition from India and South-East Asia. Harvard in the US was named the best. UCL, which has 12,000 undergraduates, was rated by a survey of 10,000 academics, a poll of top employers, and rated on staff-to-student ratios, foreign students and the number of times research has been cited by fellow scholars.
But there were sour grapes from Oxford - a spokesman pointing out that the university had topped a recent Government league table based on funding for academic research and was named the best institution in Britain by a series of national newspapers.
He continued: "League table rankings can vary as they often use different methods to measure success, but Oxford University’s position is surprising given that Oxford came top of the table for [research] funding, has the highest research income of any UK university, and has come first in every national league table."
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