Not so wonderful anymore

As of the last week UEA is no longer in the world top 150 universities.

In the Times Higher Education Rankings published on 3 October, UEA had slipped from ranking 145^th in the world, falling more than 30 places to become joint 176^th.

Universities across Britain have seen a similar decline, whilst universities in the Asia-Pacific countries continue their ascent up the league tables.

The British fall was blamed on lack of public funding, a failure to encourage postgraduate study and “negative vibes” towards academics and international students.

Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press, Vice-Chancellor Professor Edward Acton said that Britain was still doing well in world rankings, and that the dip in position did not reflect a drop in quality, but that the drop in position should serve as a warning.

Professor Acton said: “If we take it for granted that people are always going to think British higher education is up the top there, we are going to be very gravely mistaken. We are going to have to work very hard.”

He added: “Eventually, if it gets bad enough, the absolute quality of what we offer will also slip. That would have repercussions beyond university. It would have major social and cultural repercussions.”

Other British universities to suffer in the recent rankings were the University of Bristol and University of St Andrews.  However, British unis are still making an impression, with Oxford placing joint 2^nd, Cambridge 7^th, Imperial 8^th and UCL 17^th.

Professor Acton said that although he was “disappointed” with UEA’s position, “some annual fluctuation” was to be expected.

He added: “I think our investment in both the education and the research in the last few years makes me optimistic that our average figure over the years will steadily rise.”