Cambridge excels in world ranking

The University of Cambridge comes second in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s 2006 ranking of world universities.

The annual survey now in its third year rates the world's universities by a number of factors including the opinions of fellow academics and of employers of graduates.

While Harvard is ranked number one overall, with Cambridge a close second and Oxford third, Cambridge leads the field in terms of academic opinion.

John O'Leary, Editor of The THES, said: "These results show that academics think Cambridge is the world's best university, with Oxford close behind. On this measure they both come ahead of Harvard. In addition, Cambridge is popular with employers. Its score on quantitative criteria such as international appeal and staff/student ratio provides numerical corroboration of its excellence."

Professor Ian Leslie, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, said: "It is very reassuring that the collegiate systems of Cambridge and Oxford continue to be valued and respected by peers, and that the excellence of teaching and of research at both institutions is reflected in this ranking."

Other factors taken into account in the rankings are the number of international staff and students, the ratio of students to staff and the number of research article citations per staff member.

The top ten universities in the overall ranking, with scores in brackets, are:

• 1. Harvard University (100)
• 2. University of Cambridge (96.8)
• 3. University of Oxford (92.7)
• 4. Yale University (89.2)
• 4=. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (89.2)
• 6. Stanford University (85.4)
• 7. California Institute of Technology (83.8)
• 8. University of California, Berkeley (80.4)
• 9. Imperial College, London (78.6)
• 10. Princeton University (74.2)