Cambridge ranks as fifth most prestigious university

Harvard was named the world’s most prestigious university, whilst China’s Tsinghua University entered the top 10

Cambridge’s place slipped slightly from fourth last yearLouis Ashworth

by Caitlin Farrell

This article is 4 years old

Tuesday November 2 2021, 1:03pm

Cambridge has been ranked the fifth most prestigious university in the world according to the Times Higher Education Reputation Ranking 2021.

This ranking system is different to the main Times Higher Education ranking because unlike the other, which focuses on factors such as research and teaching, it is based solely on the reputation of universities.

Almost 11,000 academics around the world took part in rating which universities were most prestigious, and overall 202 universities from 29 countries were featured in the final table.

The survey is invitation-only and uses subject-based metrics to remain “representative of the global distribution of scholars.”

Harvard ranked as the world’s most prestigious university, whilst Tsinghua University in China entered the top 10 for the first time. China secured a record-breaking 17 universities in the top 200.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology was second place, whilst Oxford was third.

St Andrews beats Oxbridge for first time in The Times university rankings

The United States dominated the survey, with 13 universities in the top 20, and 57 in the overall 202. The UK had three universities in the top 20, with UCL in 17th place.

“Reputation is a powerful currency for universities that plays a vital role in attracting student talent, academic talent, new partnerships and even inward investment,” said Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at Times Higher Education.

Regarding China’s improved position in the rankings and increased ability to attract student talent, Baty commented, “this could not only cause issues for the likes of the U.S. and U.K. in terms of attracting talent, but also funding and prestige on the world stage.”

Support Varsity

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding and we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too!

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as £1, to help with our running costs. Many thanks, we hope you can help!