Harvard University again leads an elite top six of Anglo-American “super-brands” universities according to the latest World Reputation Rankings 2013 published by the Times Higher Education magazine.

This year’s rankings are headed by Harvard University, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. A elite pack of Anglo-American universities conquered the top 10, , with the gap between it and the chasing pack widening each year.

These annual tables are based on the largest worldwide invitation-only survey of senior academic opinion. They provide the only global index based purely on the power of university brands.

According to the opinion of those who recognise quality in university teaching and research better than anyone – academics themselves – the US continues to dominate, with 43 universities in the world top 100 list. However, this dominance is slowly waning as the UK has fewer representatives than in the two previous years.

Outside the US, the UK has the most top 100 representatives (nine), but its overall showing has declined since 2011, when it had 12 representatives. Apart from the very top universities (Cambridge and Oxford), the UK has seven top 50 universities, which have generally maintained their prestigious reputations: University College London moves up one place to 20th and the LSE goes from 29th to 25th.

The University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s only representative in the top 100, rises three places to 46th and the University of Manchester has entered the global top 50 for the first time (47th).

Phil Baty, rankings editor at Times Higher Education magazine, said:

“Traditionally, the strength in depth of the UK system has been one of its great features. Having a large number of institutions with truly world-class standing has delivered huge returns for the whole sector and the wider economy. However, it now seems that a gap is opening up between the very best and the rest, with even household name institutions like Sheffield and Leeds losing their lustre and falling down the rankings.

Outside of the Anglo-American representation, Australia has moved ahead of Japan and the Netherlands and now has six representatives: University of Melbourne, Australian National University, University of Sydney, University of Queensland, University of New South Wales and Monash University.

In total, 20 countries are represented in the World Reputation Rankings.

Some leading Asian institutions also climbed in the rankings this year:  The National University of Singapore climbs one place to 22nd (it was 27th in 2011), while the University of Hong Kong takes 36th position, up from 39th in 2012 and 42nd in 2011.

On a final comment, Phil Baty added:  “It is clear that no university, no matter how prestigious, can afford to be complacent in this fast-moving, information-rich global age. New forces in higher education are emerging, especially in the East Asian countries that are investing heavily in building world-class universities, so the traditional elite must be very careful. In the three years that the World Reputation Rankings have been running, we have clear evidence that the US and the UK in particular are losing ground.”

The World Reputation Rankings are part of the portfolio of university ranking systems that have established Times Higher Education as the most respected and cited provider of comparative university performance data in the world. The reputation rankings are based on a global invitation-only opinion poll carried out by Ipsos MediaCT for Times Higher Education’s rankings data supplier, Thomson Reuters. The poll has attracted 48,000 responses from more than 150 countries in three years. The 2013 results are based on 16,639 responses from senior published academics.

Reputation Rankings 2013

Source: Times Higher Education

Image taken from flickr: Cambridge Alumni Relations Office