KCL gains ground on other London universities in world rankings

KCL has moved one place up The Times Higher Education World University Rankings bucking the downward trend of other London universities.

The yearly league tables released by The Times measure and compile a university’s teaching proficiency, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. Top U.S. universities have generally done well in the 2021 rankings, making up eight of the top ten places and pushing many UK universities downwards.

Imperial College London is the UK’s top non-Oxbridge performer but has still fallen from 10^th to 11^th. Similarly, UCL has fallen from 15^th to 16^th, whilst LSE remains 27^th place. While King’s is still a few places behind its London competition, it can proudly say that it is making up ground.

The move up from 36^th to 35^th is the best position the university has achieved since landing in 27^th in 2016. King’s maintained a high score in the “international outlook” category likely due to the high percentage of international students and its London location. Academically, the university scores highest in research and citations, but lowest in teaching.

KCL yearly rankings graph

The indication that many of KCL’s world-leading departments do not provide teaching that is as distinguished their research may ring true for some students. Chloe Smith, a third-year War Studies said, “While research is crucial it’s a shame that more money isn’t put into teaching as this is what has a direct effect on student satisfaction”.