By Lauren Jack

Copyright scotsman

The University of Edinburgh has retained its position as one of the best universities in the world for 2026. Just 11 UK institutions have remained in the global top 100, with two Scottish among them, in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. Holding onto the top place for a record-breaking tenth consecutive year is the University of Oxford, with three UK institutions within the world’s top ten. Despite this, experts warn of clear signs of decline across the country’s higher education sector with Irene Tracey, the vice chancellor of Oxford, calling for “renewed investment and support” in UK institutions during a period of “real strain”. For the first time since 2016, the UK has fewer than 50 universities in the top 500, with 28 British universities losing ground internationally compared to just 13 which made improvements. There were also 64 institutions which retained their 2025 positions. The University of Edinburgh remains in 29th in the 2026 THE World University Rankings, putting in in 5th for the UK and 7th in Europe. Glasgow University is then Scotland’s next best institution at 84th – the only other to make the global top 100 – rising three places from 2025. Meanwhile, St Andrews University also showed improvements in this year’s league table, climbing 23 places to rank joint 162nd overall, alongside Canada’s University of Waterloo. The annual league table evaluates more than 2,000 universities from 115 countries and territories on areas including teaching, research quality, research environment, international outlook, and industry. With Oxford still number on in the world, the University of Cambridge rises to joint-third position from fifth for 2026, while Imperial College London rose one place to eighth position. Though there are only 49 UK universities within the top 500, overall the country demonstrated a steady performance in the 2026 THE World University Rankings following dip in reputation after last year’s report. In fact, the country’s average score improved slightly due to a rebound in teaching reputation and research excellence. However, an increase in the student-teacher ratio indicates that there could be trouble ahead, with the figures likely to worsen because of the UK’s funding crisis as job cuts continue and resources become fewer. Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, said: “There are clear warning signals of serious decline for the UK’s ‘jewel in the crown’ university sector, as the full extent of the sector’s financial crisis kicks in with mass redundancies and course closures: the number of UK universities that lost ground in the ranking was more than double the number that made improvements; the UK has fewer universities in the top 500 than it has had in the past decade; and its scores for research excellence and internationalisation have dropped. “This year’s rankings highlight a dramatic and accelerating trend – the shift in the balance of power in research and higher education excellence from the long-established, dominant institutions of the West to rising stars of the East. We appear to be shifting towards a new world order and a new, Eastern centre of gravity for new knowledge creation and innovation, and the UK must act to support its university sector if it is not to miss out.”