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Birkbeck achieves best ever ranking in 2016 QS world university rankings

College rises 10 places from last year

Birkbeck has achieved its best ever position in this year’s QS world university rankings, being placed 280th globally – in the top third worldwide.

Birkbeck rose ten places compared to last year's world rankings to place the College in its highest ever position. The College has risen nearly 100 places in the rankings since 2012.

The 2016 QS World Ranking rates universities according to a comprehensive suite of indicators, including reputation with employers, academic reputation, the proportion of international staff and students and academic citations per faculty – used as an indicator of the impact and quality of research produced by different universities.

Birkbeck has been ranked 8th in London, and 12th in the UK for citations per faculty, indicating the strength of the College's research, up from 16th place last year.

The College is ranked 15th in the country for the proportion of its student body which is international, which is a measure the rankings use to assess how attractive an institution is to students overseas.

Similarly, Birkbeck has been deemed to be highly attractive to research staff drawn from overseas, scoring within the top 20 in the UK for international faculty. The College was ranked 19th in the country this year.

Speaking following the announcement of this year’s rankings, Professor David Latchman CBE, Master of Birkbeck, said:

“This is a superb result for the College and reflects what a strong reputation Birkbeck has built with employers, the academic community in the UK and worldwide and with students.

“What these results demonstrate is how successfully Birkbeck combines research intensity with offering a high-quality education informed by that same academic rigour, attracting staff and students from across the globe.

“It is the rigour of this approach – combined with our offering of teaching in the evening, enabling students to gain valuable work experience during the day – which is so highly valued by employers.”  

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