The 2019 edition of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, produced by Chinese consultancy Shanghai Rankings, was published on 15th August.
The Shanghai Rankings, first published in 2003, have a significantly different methodology to the other main global league tables, with a stronger focus on research metrics and no specific reputation measures.
Some initial analysis of the 2019 from the World 100 Reputation Network shows:
- The Top 10 remains static, and there has been little change in the top 50 although some notable gains have been made by World 100 Reputation Network members University of Washington, University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester, UBC and Utrecht University.
- Asian progress continues, with rises for Tsinghua and Peking and a huge jump for World 100 member NUS, up 18 places to 67. Shanghai Jiao Tong, co-incidentally the institution which originally launched these rankings, has entered the top 100. 15 Chinese universities are now in the top 200, up from 11 a year ago.
- Whilst US institutions continue to dominate the very top of the table, they are suffering further down with 19 American universities dropping places in the top 100.
- European universities are seeing gains, with 17 improving their positions in the top 100, including W100 member Aarhus, rising 5 places to 60th in the latest Shanghai table.
- UK universities did better than in the recent QS Rankings, with 6 climbers in the top 100 in addition to Cambridge and Oxford maintaining their top 10 positions. This reflects the continuing underlying research strength of the UK and the reputational challenges which are picked up by QS but don’t feature in the Shanghai Rankings, which do not include reputation surveys.
- Australian universities had mixed results, with W100 members Melbourne & Sydney (as well as ANU) falling in the Shanghai table, whilst UNSW entered the top 100.
The World 100 Reputation Network provides regular analysis to its members on the latest world university rankings, a key component of global reputation. To join the Network, visit https://www.theworld100.com/members/become-a-member/