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Times Higher Education THE World University Rankings 2015-2016: Summary of Biggest Movers and Achievers

edumovliveOctober 8, 20156 Mins read2k Views

THE World University Rankings 2015-2016 or Times World University Rankings 2015-2016 out now. Millions of students across world are curious to know THE World University Rankings 2015-2016 to know Top Ranking Universities list in the world. Finally, here is the list of Top Ranking Universities in Session 2015-2016. Students from various countries are searching for same query “World University Ranking 2015” with different keywords like Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015, World University Rankings 2016, THE World University Rankings, Top Universities in the world as well as Canada University Ranking 2016 TIMES Higher Education, Oxford University Ranking Times 2016, US University Rankings, THE University Ranking in US, UK University Ranking, QS University Ranking in UK, Latest World University Rankings, etc.

QS, and Times Higher Education decide the rankings of universities across the world every year. This year also, these two organizations finalized the indexed the names of Universities according to the Rankings released in 2016.

In this article, I will provide you information about Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16.

Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2015/2016: Summary and a Snapshot of the Biggest Movers & Achievers – UK Universities

The World University Rankings for 2015-2016 has been published (officially on 1^st October). This is something almost every aspiring international student keeps waiting for. Of course the university ranking is not always the most critical factor for a student while choosing a university. But, it does play a vital role in the final decision making. Just like grades is an indicator for a recent university graduate about how s/he is going to perform in the professional field (job or Ph.D research); university rankings are also an indicator about the overall quality of a university.

Times Higher Education THE World University Rankings 2015-2016:-

Like last year, US universities dominate the overall rankings. 147 US universities feature in the top 800 in the world, with California Institute of Technology (Caltech) claiming the top position; followed by Stanford University, MIT, Harvard University, Princeton University and University of Chicago. But, the US continues to lose its grip – 66 US universities feature in the top 200 in 2016, down from 74 in 2015 and 77 in 2014. While the downfall might not look that significant, but the trend is pretty clear.

Table 1: World University Rankings 2015-2016: Top 10 (Source: Times Higher Education)

The National University of Singapore (NUS) that ranks at 26 in the overall table becomes best in Asia. The 2^nd and 3^rd best have been Peking University (42) and The University of Tokyo (43). Overall Japan and South Korea have lost some glory, but they still have got the depth and punch in teaching and research. Unfortunately no Indian institute has been able to come within the top 200; and the major reasons include lack of quality research output and knowledge transfer. However, 17 Indian institutes have been featured in the top 800.

Indian Institute	India Rank	World Rank
IISc Bangalore	1	251 – 300
IIT Bombay	2	351 – 400
IIT Delhi	3	401 – 500
IIT Kharagpur	4	401 – 500
IIT Madras	5	401 – 500
IIT Guwahati	6	501 – 600
IIT Kanpur	7	501 – 600
IIT Roorkee	8	501 – 600
Jadavpur University (Kolkata)	9	501 – 600
Panjab University (Chandigarh)	10	501 – 600
Aligarh Muslim University (Aligarh)	11	601 – 800
Amrita University (Coimbatore)	12	601 – 800
Andhra University (Visakhapatnam)	13	601 – 800
BITS Pilani (Hyderabad)	14	601 – 800
University of Calcutta	15	601 – 800
University of Delhi	16	601 – 800
Savitribai Phuli Pune University	17	601 – 800

Table 2: Top Indian Institutes (2015-2016)

Europe has done considerably well with 345 European universities among the top 800. The top countries have been UK, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland. 20 German universities and 12 Dutch universities have featured in the top 200. ETH Zurich (9^th in the world) has been the pride for Switzerland. LMU Munich (29), Heidelberg University (37), Humboldt University of Berlin (49), TU Munich (53), Free University of Berlin (72) take the top spots for Germany; while Wageningen University and Research Center (47), University of Amsterdam (58), Utrecht University (62) TU Delft (65) and Leiden University (67) have been the top performers for the Netherlands. According to Simon Marginson, professor of international higher education at the UCL Institute of Education, the key factors behind Europe’s glory have been the European Research grant programs, the Bologna Process, and strategic policies for immigration and recruitment.

The biggest achiever and mover in the world rankings have been the UK universities. UK has always been a tough competitor for US when it comes to international education. 78 UK universities rank within the top 800, with 34 among best 200 in the world.

UK Rank 2016	University	World Rank 2016	World Rank 2015
1	University of Oxford	2	3
2	University of Cambridge	4	5
3	Imperial College London	8	9
4	University College London	14	22
5	London School of Economics and Political Science	23	34
6	University of Edinburgh	24	36
7	King’s College London	27	40
8	University of Manchester	56	52
9	University of Bristol	69	74
10	University of Durham	70	83
11	University of Glasgow	76	94
12	University of Warwick	80	103
13	University of St. Andrews	86	111
14	University of Exeter	93	154
15	University of Sheffield	97	121
16	Queen Mary University of London	98	107
17	University of Southampton	110	132
18	University of Birmingham	119	148
19	Royal Holloway, University of London	129	118
20	Lancaster University	130	131
21	University of York	131	113
22	University of Leeds	133	146
23	University of Sussex	140	111
24	University of Nottingham	143	171
25	University of East Anglia	149	198

Table 3: Top 25 UK Universities

It is pretty clear that almost the UK universities have made significant improvements in the world ranking. The top 10 institutes like Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, UCL and LSE have crawled towards the top; the only exception in the trend has been University of Manchester, which dropped from 52^nd to 56^th position globally. The biggest movers are clearly institutes like University of Exeter (rose to 93^rd from 154^th), University of Sheffield (97^th from 121^st) and University of St. Andrews as they stormed in to the top 100. University of Glasgow and University of Warwick strengthened their positions as they leapt 18 and 23 places respectively. University of Bristol, University of Durham and Queen Mary University of London have been slow movers though. Another two shining movers have been University of Nottingham and University of East Anglia as they tightened their grip within the top 1% of the world universities.

However, the biggest achievers are definitely the modern (or newly established) UK universities. The 2015-2016 ranking has probed deeper than ever, owing to more comprehensive data and of course the Big Data Analytics; THE has pulled off the largest THE rankings to date – as 800 universities get featured in the list compared to 400 in the last year. The biggest impact has been that the modern universities, which have been doing considerably well in the areas of teaching, industry tie-ups, graduate employ-ability – they got their due.

University	World Rank 2016	International Outlook	Industry Income	Research	% International Students	Year of Establishment / Gaining University Status
De Montfort University	501 – 600	58.4	28.5	10.1	21	1992
University of Hertfordshire	501 – 600	78.9	29.3	9.5	27	1952
Liverpool John Moores University	501 – 600	62.1	28.8	11.6	13	1992
Manchester Metropolitan University	501 – 600	57.8	28.3	10.6	14	1992
University of Bradford	601 – 800	79.1	32.7	15.9	32	1966
University of Brighton	601 – 800	62.8	29.4	10.7	19	1992
University of Central Lancashire	601 – 800	54.1	28.9	9.4	17	1992
Coventry University	601 – 800	69.6	29.1	7.7	35	1992
Glasgow Caledonian University	601 – 800	55	29.9	10.4	16	1993
University of Greenwich	601 – 800	81.8	30	9.5	32	1992
University of Huddersfield	601 – 800	55.2	28	5.4	25	1992
Kingston University	601 – 800	76.8	28.5	12.1	34	1992
University of Lincoln	601 – 800	60.5	29.3	11.9	11	1992 / 2001
Middlesex University	601 – 800	81		10.6	44	1992
Northumbria University	601 – 800	55.1	29.1	10.9	16	1992
Nottingham Trent University	601 – 800	52.7	28.4	8.9	18	1992
University of Salford	601 – 800	66.4	28.8	12.1	25	1967
Sheffield Hallam University	601 – 800	47	28.6	9.4	15	1992
University of the West of England	601 – 800	48.5	28.5	11.2	15	1992
University of Westminster	601 – 800	81.9	28.5	11.7	43	1992

Table 4: Best Modern (New-Age) UK Universities

Due to limitation in the ranking places, competition within the UK universities and presence of age-old prestigious universities, the new age UK universities always lacked the international rankings. The above table clearly shows that those 20 odd universities rank within top 800 in the world. They might not be the best among the best in the UK – mainly because they were set up very recently in comparison to prestigious universities like University of Oxford (1165), University of Cambridge (1209), University of St. Andrews (1410), University of Glasgow (1451), University of Aberdeen (1495), or University of Edinburgh (1583). Most of the modern UK universities got their university status in 1992. Secondly, they are not primarily research-based universities yet.

THE ranking system considers the following criterion and weighted values while ranking –

Teaching (30%)
Research (30%)
Citations (30%)
International Outlook (7.5%)
Industry Income (2.5%)

The modern universities do lag behind in the research and citation areas. But, universities like De Montfort, Coventry, Northumbria, Sheffield-Hallam, Salford, Greenwich, Huddersfield, Kingston, UWE Bristol, Glasgow Caledonian and others deserve praise when it comes to teaching, international outlook, industry relevant courses, placements and graduate employability. The same issue has been discussed before in the blog Ranking & Reputation of University. It is heartening to see those universities feature in this elite table, and it is only fair for them to have an international ranking.

Due to the current visa rules, Indian students avoid UK for higher studies. They refuse the universities that rank within the top 800 in the world. They choose to study at an institute (in another country) that might rank in top 2000 or top 3000 in the world – just because that country has got 1 year or 2 years of stay-back option. It is a fact that as an international student the Post-Study Work option is very important in order to pay back the high fees. But, it should not be the main rationale behind while choosing a university. I hope this new ranking will definitely encourage few students and make them consider all the factors. At the end of the day, it is important to get a good education and training in order to be successful. Rankings, reputation and stay-back options should always come later.