UoM inside top 30 in latest QS University rankings, amid Brexit warning

The University of Manchester has ranked 29th in the world, and the 10th in the UK in the QS world university rankings for 2019, as QS issued a warning over the effect of Brexit on the UK’s performance in international tables.

One of just three ranking systems to receive International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) approval, QS uses a range of indicators, including an institution’s Academic and Employer reputation.

The University of Manchester moves up five spots from its 2018 place, and also rises from 7th to 6th in the UK standings.

In the UK rankings, it finished 13th for Arts and Humanities, 7th for Social Sciences and Management, and 7th for Life Sciences and Medicine.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) retains its first place ranking, with Stanford, Harvard, Caltech, and Cambridge completing the top five.

Oxford, UCL, and Imperial College London also featured in the ten best in the world.

Although the latest rankings were a success story for UK Higher Education, there was a warning over how the UK’s withdrawal from the EU could affect the country’s future performance in the QS rankings.

The UK’s excellent performance, which is bettered only by the USA, has been heavily linked to their participation in the Erasmus scheme

“Much of the highly cited research that has contributed to UK success this year will have come about as a result of collaboration with EU universities and as a consequence of participation in EU schemes,” said Ben Sowter, director of research for the rankings system.

Although the future of the Horizon scheme has been guaranteed  by government funding until 2020, the effect of an unmitigated fallout from the EU could be devastating.

Last week, Professor Colin Riodarn, Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University, called for Brexit to be delayed for up to two years, describing a no deal exit ‘intolerable’.