Cambridge has remained at second place in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University rankings, while Oxford has topped the rankings for the third consecutive year. Oxford also came top in the global table for research, in which Cambridge claimed second.

The UK has been surpassed for the first time as the second-most represented nation overall in the listing, amid fears that Brexit threatens the UK’s higher education sector. Japan has overtaken the UK, with 103 positions in the listing, as compared to the UK’s 98.

The United Kingdom has, however, remained the second-most represented nation in the top 200 rankings, but 21 of the 29 represented British universities have suffered from stagnation or decline.

Speaking about the rankings, Phil Baty, Editorial Director of Global Rankings at THE, said that there are “individual stars” in the UK this year, but the overall picture is of “stagnation and modest decline”. He added, “we can only speculate at this stage as to any connection with Brexit”, but warned that Brexit poses a “very real” threat to British universities’ reputation and research capabilities.

Commenting further on the threat of Brexit, Baty suggested that British and European universities will be under strong pressure should Brexit limit pan-European mobility and research collaboration.

He also cautioned that with intensifying global competition from emerging countries prioritising higher-level education in their growth strategies, maintaining world-class excellence amidst cuts and advancing isolationism is “simply unsustainable”.

He stressed that positive immigration and investment policies are crucial to ensure that universities can continue to attract the very best international students and talent post-Brexit, as well as to be protected from cuts.

Amidst the overall drop in the UK’s performance, there are individual improvements. University College London has advanced to 14th place this year, with particular improvement to its teaching score, while the University of Warwick has scaled 12 places, now joint in the 79th position with the University of Groningen.

The THE World University rankings assess five aspects of research-intensive universities around the world – teaching, research, international outlook, citations and industry income – in 13 performance indicators.

The THE rankings are also independently audited by multinational professional services firm Pricewaterhousecoopers, and claim to be the only global university rankings subject to such scrutiny.