The UK faced a reality check in mid-September with the publication of the new and more rigorous Times Higher Education World University rankings. Britains performance has deteriorated under the revamped system, developed in partnership with research-data specialist Thomson Reuters. The UK has 29 universities in the top 200 league table compared with 72 US institutions. But just five make the top 50: the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London and the University of Edinburgh.The US, by contrast, has 27 institutions in the top 50 and occupies the entire top five, with Harvard University in pole position. The UKs highest-ranked institutions, Cambridge and Oxford, are joint sixth. Despite US dominance, the UK remains an overachiever when its performance is judged against its higher education spending, which is below average for countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
For instance, the UK has more than twice as many universities in the top 200 as Germany, which follows in third place. Both countries have performed well despite their higher education spending falling below the OECD average of 1.5 percent: the UK spends 1.3 percent of GDP and Germanys figure is even lower at 1.1 percent.
The US is the runaway leader, with more than twice the UKs aggregate points. Its performance correlates with its level of investment: the US spends 3.1 percent of GDP on its universities, more than any other OECD nation. Canada is ranked in fourth place in terms of aggregate points scored, while China is the highest-ranked Asian nation in eighth place. The implications of the rankings are absolutely clear, says Prof. Steve Smith, president of Universities UK. The UKs academy has no automatic right to stay in its current position as the second-strongest system in the world. The government faces a clear choice: either continue to invest in the university system or see the UKs comparative position decline, he says.
Smith also notes Germanys additional spending of €18 billion (Rs.109,800 crore) on science, research and development between 2010 and 2015, and Frances extra €1.8 billion (Rs.10,980 crore) a year for research and higher education in 2010 and 2011. By contrast, the UKs most senior civil servant, Sir Gus ODonnell, has warned vice chancellors to plan for 35 percent cuts between 2011 and 2015.

(Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)