Best universities in world according to Times Higher Education

Times Higher Education (THE) has announced the results of its World University Rankings 2021, which underline the shifting strength of higher education and research around the world. 

Report informs, this year, the list includes 1,527 educational institutions from 93 countries.

The top five universities included Oxford University (UK), Stanford University (USA), Harvard University (USA), California Institute of Technology (USA), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).

Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Times Higher Education (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) to publish the joint THE–QS World University Rankings from 2004 to 2009 before it turned to Thomson Reuters for a new ranking system from 2010–2013.

The magazine signed a new deal with Elsevier in 2014, who now provides them with the data used to compile the rankings. The publication now comprises the world's overall, subject, and reputation rankings, alongside three regional league tables, Asia, Latin America, and BRICS & Emerging Economies, generated by different weightings. Rankings are often considered one of the most widely observed university rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities and QS World University Rankings. It is praised for having a new, improved ranking methodology since 2010; however, undermining non-science and non-English instructing institutions and relying on subjective reputation surveys are among the criticism and concerns.