Oxford and Cambridge Drop Out of Top Three University Ranking
Oxford and Cambridge universities have failed to get into the top three in the Times prestigious annual university ranking for the first time, with experts blaming “misguided attempts at equality”
The Mail has more.
The Times and the Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026 placed the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) first for the second year in a row, followed by the University of St Andrews in Scotland second and Durham University in third.
Oxford and Cambridge were joint fourth – the first time neither have held a place in the top three in the 32 years the Times has produced its guide.
Last year Oxford was ranked third, while Cambridge was already sitting at fourth.
Both slipped down last year when the LSE leapt to first place from fourth and St Andrews came second.
Universities have been under pressure in recent years from successive governments to widen their intake to include more students from deprived backgrounds.
Earlier this year, Universities UK – which represents campus bosses including Oxford and Cambridge – unveiled an “action plan” to “boost access” for the “most disadvantaged in society”.
This involved getting more universities to adopt “contextual offers”, meaning lowering entry grades for those who had faced “barriers”.
These include growing up in care, attending a low-attaining school or being from a low-income family.
Offers could be up to three grades lower than the standard requirement, even in competitive areas such as medicine.
Other interventions have included universities being provided data on free school meals to help them select the poorest applicants.
Details of this policy emerged three years ago, when statistics showed poor students had enjoyed a better rate of offers for places than their richer peers.
Professor Alan Smithers, the Director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, told the Daily Mail today it was a “very unfortunate political decision to insist that universities take into account social circumstances”.
Blasting the “misguided attempt at equality”, he said: “What has to be understood is it’s not just a matter of intrinsic ability. It’s the quality of education that gives you the platform for higher education.
“Somebody who hasn’t had the opportunity to develop their abilities won’t be as comfortable at university and is very unlikely to achieve as much there as someone who came in from very high-performing achievement at school.”
He added: “Universities have to satisfy their monopoly customer [the Government] and may be doing all sorts of things that go against their better instincts to meet the demands upon them.”
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