University of Manchester ranked seventh in the UK

The QS World University Rankings for 2015/16 have placed the University of Manchester 33rd in the world and 7th in the UK.

US universities still top the list, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology in first place for the fourth year running and Harvard University climbing two places to second position.

The University of Manchester has slipped three places in the world, but has risen since 2014 from 8th place in the UK. Since 2004, when the University of Manchester was officially born from UMIST and Victoria University, Manchester has risen from 43rd place.

QS’s annual rankings of the world’s top universities uses six performance indicators to assess institutions’ global reputation, research impact, staffing levels and international complexion.

Manchester’s academic reputation and employer reputation were the highest scoring performance indicators in the evaluation

The university’s highest ranked subject was Development Studies, ranked 3rd place in the world. The highest ranking Faculty was Social Sciences and Management, ranked 35th in the world.

The Mancunion spoke to a University of Manchester spokesperson about these results. They told us they were “pleased to see Manchester again ranked in the world’s top 50 universities, since we are in all the main international tables.” Each ranking system has its own methodology, none of which are perfect, but they can provide some indication of an institution’s performance compared to its competitors.

“Our position in these tables is further confirmation that we are on course to meet our ambitious plans to become one of the 25 leading universities in the world by 2020, recognised globally for our research excellence, outstanding learning and student experience, and our social, economic and cultural impact.”