US and UK varsities top QS global rankings; Singapore best in Asia

Unsurprisingly, American and British universities have again featured prominently in the top 10 spots for the recently revealed Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018.

Four US universities took the top four spots, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the top for the sixth year in a row, followed by Stanford, Harvard and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Four British universities followed suit, with Cambridge and Oxford at the fifth and sixth position respectively, followed by schools based in the country’s capital: University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London.

Entrance to the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London Via Shutterstock.

The top 20 positions this year hardly changed from last year’s rankings. However, for UK universities, QS notes: “UK universities continue to slide down the rankings, with 51 of 76 British universities falling at least one place”, including 11 of the 16 ranked Russell Group universities.

Universities in affluent East Asian countries topped the list of universities located in the Asian continent. Singapore held the top two spots among its Asian peers, with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) at 11th place surpassing the National University of Singapore (NUS) for the first time ever.

“We know competition is extremely stiff in the upper echelon of the world’s best universities, and we cannot expect to continue to make big leaps. To climb up to the 11th spot (this year), just one place shy of the top 10, is remarkable progress,” NTU president Prof Bertil Andersson is quoted by Today Online.

“Even though NTU is now the highest-ranked Singapore university, I maintain what I have always said — Singaporeans should be very proud (this) small nation … has two world-class universities.”

China’s Tsinghua University bagged the 25th spot, followed by the University of Hong Kong at 26th and tied for 28th place is University of Tokyo and Northwestern University.

The global annual survey by QS is based on expert opinions of 75,015 academics and 40,455 employers, as well as analysing institutional research impact.

Its website states the methodology remains consistent with “fundamental changes” avoided so that “year-on-year comparisons remain valid, and that unnecessary volatility is minimised”. University news network, The Tab calls it the “definitive guide” for global university rankings.

Here are the full results up to the 20th spot:

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