Asian universities, especially in the republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China, performed particularly well in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012, published on October 3, rising by an average of almost 12 places. The US continues to dominate the rankings. Its universities claimed 76 places in the top 200.

In the UK, although Oxford University rose two places to joint second, and Imperial College London and University College London held on to their places at eighth and 17th respectively, several other research-intensive institutions slipped.

Although the UK remains the best represented country behind the US in the top 200, falls in both regions contrast with a surge in performance in Asia and Australia. These regions saw some of the largest improvements, with the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore leaping 83 places to 86th, thanks mainly to a significant increase in research income.

Yang Wei, president of Zhejiang University and chairman of the Chinese C9 League of universities, calls the shift the result of a decade of steady progress across Asia which will continue to pay off. A time lag on the results from the most recent initiatives, such as China’s strategy to internationalise higher education and a government commitment to spend 4 percent of gross domestic product on education, also means Chinese institutions are likely to continue to improve their positions, he says. “I think this progression will extend at least for five or ten years.”

Although higher tuition fees have helped to protect teaching funding for 2012-13 in the UK, the Campaign for Science and Engineering estimates that science funding will drop by 12 percent in cash terms over the course of this spending period, thanks in part to cuts in capital budgets. Britain’s shadow higher education minister Shabana Mahmood says the rankings confirm the benefits of countries “pumping vast sums of money into higher education at a time when money is being taken out of higher education in our country”. “That’s incredibly worrying. It goes to show you can’t rest on your laurels… because the competition across the globe is fierce,” she adds.

Writing in the THE World University Rankings supplement, universities and science minister David Willetts says the rankings show that in the future “any country that stands still — or moves forward only slowly — will find itself slipping down the international league as other countries try harder, invest more and improve their research”.

(Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)