The University of York has dropped to 81st place in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010 (THEWUR).
The list, produced in association with Reuters, leaves the University 11 places lower than last year.
Phil Baty, editor of the table, commented on the revised ranking system in The Guardian this morning, saying that “because of the change to the methodology, any movement up or down since 2009 cannot be seen as a change in performance by an individual country or institution.”
“We do contend, however, that these tables are realistic, and so in some cases they may deliver an unpleasant wake-up call that the days of trading on reputation alone are coming to an end.”
The new system includes a rating of an institution’s teaching, ‘international mix’, ‘industry income’ and research, giving it an overall score with which it is ranked in the table.
Harvard University topped the list, with the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford sharing 6th place. A massive 53 US Universities made the top 100, compared to just 14 in the UK.
YUSU President Tim Ngwena highlighted the funding deficit in British universities, commenting that, “It’s great to see York come in the top 10 of UK universities once again, however the global performance of York echoes a national trend of British Universities not performing as well as our US counterparts, who receive twice as much funding as a percentage of GDP (1.3% in UK vs 3.1% in US).”
He further addeded, “as Professor Steve Smith (President of Universities UK) highlights, this must serve as a warning to the government prior to their decisions on higher education funding. Closer to home, YUSU is already working with the University to ensure that the quality of teaching and learning resources as well as the facilities on campus is maintained and improved in the coming years.”
Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Cantor also commented on the University’s position. On the university website’s news section he is quoted as saying: “The University of York is in the top 100 of both the THE and the QS 2010 world rankings, confirming our status as one of the world’s foremost universities. Our performance reflects great credit on the dedication and hard work of all our staff and illustrates the international esteem in which the University is held.”