Times Higher Education Ranking 2022: Best universities in the world | Methodology dissected

Since there is no global student assessment system like PISA, ILSA or PIRLS, international student competitions are in fact the only objective tool for comparing the competitiveness of university students at the global level.

Rating of universities by the number of weighted victories at international student Olympiads for 2013-2017:

1. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Russia) - 13.40 points
2. Warsaw University (Poland) - 12.06 points
3. St. Petersburg State University (Russia) - 10.90 points
4. Lomonosov Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov (Russia) - 10.65 points
5. ITMO University (Russia) - 9.50 points
6. University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) - 9.30 points
7. University of Zagreb (Croatia) - 8.90 points
8. Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) - 8.53 points
9. Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine) – 8.50 points
10. Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland) - 7.46 points
11. Novosibirsk State University (Russia) - 6.51 points
12. Comenius University Bratislava (Slovakia) - 6.40 points
13. National Research University Higher School of Economics (NRU HSE) (Russia) – 6.20 points
14. Charles University (Czech Republic) - 6.10 points
15. Ghent University (Belgium) - 6.00 points

When assessing the success of students' performance at the Olympiads using a weighted score, not only the number of victories of students and student teams is taken into account, but also the level of competition at each of the Olympiads.

Prestigious international Olympiads have a global scope: the number of countries participating in a number of Olympiads exceeds 100, and representatives of 55 of them became winners and prize-winners. Among the 164 universities whose students have repeatedly become winners of the Olympiads are the most prestigious universities: MIT, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge and many others.

As you can see, the universities that took the first places in the ranking on this video did not get into the top 15 universities according to the results of student competitions. And Russian universities dominate the Olympiads. But Russian universities are not in the TOP rating of this video. Why did it happen? The thing is that the criteria for ranking universities in this video are more suitable for assessing scientific achievements than for the quality of education (and some criteria do not evaluate the quality of education at all). And in Russia, scientific research and development are mainly carried out by scientific organizations, and not by universities, Russian universities are mainly engaged in educational activities (scientific activities are auxiliary for them). And there are no Russian scientific organizations in the rating of this video, since they are not universities.

In Russia, the largest scientific organization is the Russian Academy of Sciences. She alone has more publications than all Russian universities combined.

Judging by the results of international student competitions, the best universities in the ranking of this video are not the best in the world in terms of the quality of education.

There are 27,000 universities in the world. This year Leeds University is ranked at 86 the QS international tables which brings it within the top one third of one percent of world universities.. It is of course a Russell group university. The top 100 employers in the UK (ie The High Flyers' report which is viewable online) ) publish an annual ranking of the 20 universities whose graduates they favour most. In the real world this counts for quite a lot more than the often baffling and sometimes downright bizarre national rankings that appear in publications like the Times and the Guardian (Lancaster and Loughborough universities were consistently placed as top ten universities in the Times national rankings???!!! You have got to be kidding!!!).

For 2022 the High Flyers' list places Leeds at number 5. Cambridge is ranked at number 7 and Oxford is ranked at number 10.

Leeds is the wealthiest city in the north of England with upmarket shops, restaurants and cafes. The university has an embracing and safe feeling campus 10 minutes walk from the thriving city centre. On and around the campus there is some lovely architecture and a buzzing social scene.

Of the UK's 120 universities Leeds falls consistently within the top three for the number of applicants. With an impressive international standing for the quality of its research and a first rate social scene Leeds will always be a serious choice for a great many academically gifted undergraduates and postgraduates.



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That's a good video. Keep up the good work.

You know nothing about Berkeley. In MOST of the academic fields, Berkeley performs way better than yale and columbia.. Check it before you say it.

Is actually weird you think some others uni are weird to be in the ranking just because they are lesser-known and less prestigious. Remember this ranking are done yearly. Is like expecting Messi to win Ballon dor every year jus because he is good. expect some new entrance to make to party like Ronaldo, Lewandosky, Mbappe

Great video. Thanks for pointing out the biases of this ranking. QS seems slightly better than THE.