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Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings - Methodology
This article explains the methodology behind the Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings and how the data was collated.
Background/Context
Excerpt from the introduction of the Top Universities Guide 2007:
“Around the world, governments are ending the free provision of local university education and instead, are encouraging students to seek out the best university education, at home or abroad. Many governments are providing grants for international student mobility. In the USA, recent Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad legislation aims to encourage 1 million students to study overseas, annually by 2016. The European Commission’s Bologna Accord will make room for over 500,000 first degree graduates to study in other EU nations for a Masters degree, by 2010. Over 3 million Asians are expected to study outside their home country by 2020. The majority of these students will look to study at one of the 500 top universities featured in this Guide.”
The trend towards study abroad for all or part of our higher education is growing and set only to accelerate. This is the backdrop in which the THES – QS World University Rankings have emerged and it has strongly influenced their emphasis and ongoing development.
Initial Objectives
The initial objective of the exercise was to develop a holistic evaluation of universities that enabled comparison of institutions across borders. In order to achieve this, four principal criteria were identified:
- Research Quality
- Graduate Employability
- International Outlook
- Teaching Quality
Within these four criteria headings, there are many potential indicators that could, if available, be used to power our evaluation. The question of availability is a principal factor in the selection of the indicators currently being used. We are consistently seeking additional indicators, but always within the four criteria identified above.
Ranking Criteria and Weights
We rank universities by several indicators of academic or research performance, including academic peer review, recruiter review, student faculty ratio, citations per faculty member, proportion of international faculty and proportion of international students. We may introduce additional criteria in the future subject to availability.
| Criteria | Indicator | Brief Description | Weight* |
| Research Quality | Peer Review | Composite score drawn from peer review (which is divided into five subject areas). 3,703 responses. | 40% |
| Citations per Faculty | Score based on research performance factored against the size of the research body | 20% | |
| Graduate Employability | Recruiter Review | Score based on responses to recruiter survey. 738 responses | 10% |
| International Outlook | International Faculty | Score based on proportion of international faculty | 5% |
| International Students | Score based on proportion of international students | 5% | |
| Teaching Quality | Student Faculty | Score based on student/faculty ratio | 20% |
* Weights are decided upon by the Times Higher Education Supplement
For each indicator, the highest scoring institution is assigned a score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top score. The distribution of data for each indicator is examined for any significant distorting effect; standard statistical techniques are used to adjust the indicator if necessary.
Scores for each indicator are weighted as shown below to arrive at a final overall score for an institution. The highest scoring institution is assigned a score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top score. An institution's rank reflects the number of institutions that sit above it.
All decisions regarding the allocation of weightings are the responsibility of the Times Higher Education Supplement.
Definition of Indicators
Peer Review: Over 190,000 academics were emailed a request to complete our online survey this year. Over 1600 responded - contributing to our response universe of 3,703 unique responses in the last three years. Previous respondents are given the opportunity to update their response.
Respondents are asked to identify both their subject area of expertise and their regional knowledge. They are then asked to select up to 30 institutions from their region(s) that they consider to be the best in their area(s) of expertise. There are at present approximately 540 institutions in the initial list. Responses are weighted by region to generate a peer review score for each of our principal subject areas which are:
- Links:
Times Higher Education Supplement www.thes.co.uk
University Rankings
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