University of Oxford tops 2017 THE World University Rankings

Time Higher Education (THE) have revealed their 2017 World University Rankings with the University of Oxford finishing top, thus becoming the first UK university to top the league table in its 12-year existence.

The University’s success can be attributed to improved performances across the four main indicators of ranking, teaching, research, citations and international outlook, as well as total income and research income rising faster than its staff numbers.

Despite surprising many by taking top spot, the rest of the top ten remained largely the same, with the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London both holding on to 4th and 7th place respectively. The full top ten can be found below.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, Louise Richardson, said: “Any university is only as good as the academics it can attract. The best academics attract other top academics as well as smart early career academics. They attract the best students and the most competitive research funding, so it really is a virtuous circle.”

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THE World Rankings 2017

1. University of Oxford 
2. California Institute of Technology
3. Stanford University
4. University of Cambridge       
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology         
6. Harvard University    
7. Princeton University  
8. Imperial College London       
9. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich           
10. University of California, Berkel

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