Oxford Leads The Times Uni Rankings 2016/17

The UK's Oxford University has claimed the top spot in the Times University rankings this year- the first time in the ranking's 12 year history that a UK university has taken first place.

The news will also come as a relief to many in the UK's academic fraternity who have for some time now- been voicing their concern regarding BREXIT and the negative perception it will have on the UK's educational institutions.

The US once again topped the tables with five universities inside the top ten. In second place- The California Institute of Technology, Stanford University- third, MIT fourth and Harvard, Princeton and University of California in sixth, seventh and tenth place respectively.

In addition to Oxford, the UK also claimed fourth place to Cambridge University and Imperial College of London in eighth place.

In a press release the Times said, "Oxford’s success can be attributed to improved performances across the four main indicators underlying the methodology of the ranking – teaching, research, citations and international outlook. More specifically the institution’s total income and research income is rising faster than its staff numbers, its research is more influential, and it has been more successful at drawing in international talent."

The Times highlighted the rise of Asian universities in the rankings, stating, "when looking at country level, nations in Asia stand out. Two new Asian universities make the top 100 (Chinese University of Hong Kong and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)), while another four join the top 200: City University of Hong Kong, University of Science and Technology of China, Fudan University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University."

The publication went on to say, "furthermore, China’s two flagship universities both made gains – Peking University joins the top 30 at 29th (up from 42nd last year), while Tsinghua University joins the top 40 at 35th (up from joint 47th). Asia’s leading institution, the National University of Singapore, is at 24th – its highest ever rank."

India’s leading university- the Indian Institute of Science, claimed its highest ever position moving to the 201-250 band.

In the UAE, the joint-highest placed universities this year, were the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research and the United Arab Emirates University (both ranked between 501 and 600) and a full 100 places higher than the current QS rankings favourite UAE university- the American University of Sharjah (ranked between 601 to 800).