Ranked: How respected is your uni, really?

Every self-respecting uni student spends a decent amount of their undergrad bigging their uni up – and who wouldn’t? You’ve worked hard to make it there and you’re going to make sure everybody knows it.

You may think your uni is pretty good, but how respected is it, really? Well, turns out there’s a ranking for just that.

Based on a survey of academics, the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2021 crunches the numbers and figures out exactly how respected the UK’s top unis are.

Only nine UK universities make it into the world top 100, one down from when we did this story a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, Cambridge and Oxford still top the table. However, there are a few surprises and changes over the past few years.

The rivalry continues and yet UCL remains far more respected than its bitter rival KCL. The gap is getting closer though – it now sits 20 places above “Strand Poly” in the world rankings, and four places in the UK rankings.

In another turn of fate, Bristol have kicked the oh-so-nearly-Oxbridge hopefuls Durham off the UK top 10 list. Oxford’s also overtaken Cambridge on the list and if you listen really closely, you can hear trumpets ringing from the South East.

The UK unis with the best reputations

Source: Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2021

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