News archive 2010

THE/Thomson Reuters university league table

16 Sep 2010, PR 196/10

A new university world league table has been produced by the THE in partnership with Thomson Reuters, following the end of the relationship between THE and QS, which for a number of years had produced the well established THE/QS world university rankings table.

QS continues to produce this table, and (as published in this week’s Sunday Times) King’s was ranked 21st in the world in it in 2010.

In the new THE/Thomson Reuters table King’s is placed seventh in the UK and 77th in the top 200 universities in the world. This new table, which uses an entirely different methodology than either the QS or Shanghai tables, is dominated by US institutions, and few British or European universities fare well in it.

The Principal of King’s, Professor Rick Trainor, commented, ‘Viewed against our relative positions – and rises – this year in the two established world league tables produced by QS and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, our world ranking in this new table might seem a disappointment but in terms of our position in the UK we are in seventh position. All league tables have weaknesses and this table is still embryonic, so the sector will need to provide advice as to how it can develop to provide a truly accurate picture of the world’s universities.’

Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international world rankings), The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11' and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has nearly 23,000 students (of whom more than 8,600 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 5,500 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.



Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3202

Next:
King’s business plan competition launched
Honorary Fellow wins Nobel Literature Prize
King's contributes to WHO Intervention Guidelines
Nightingale app previewed
Free radicals shown to protect the heart

Previous:
King’s hosts Festival of Learning
Extending the life of the transplant
Public says lock up fewer children
Genes for Myopia discovered
King's wins 'University of the Year'


This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
Tel: 020-7848 3202  Fax: 020-7848 3739  Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk