The 10 most popular THE rankings stories of 2019

It has been another record-breaking year for rankings at Times Higher Education.

Our flagship World University Rankings 2020, published in September, were our biggest yet, with almost 1,400 universities across 92 territories included.

We also published our inaugural University Impact Rankings – a pioneering new global table that is the first to measure universities’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. More than 500 universities took part and we look forward to publishing the second edition with even more institutions next April.

Below we share the most popular rankings stories of the year, based on website traffic. In all cases, the tables were devised, compiled and published by THE.

For more information on our university rankings, visit the World University Rankings home page.

10. THE Young University Rankings 2019: Golden Age results out now

Our third annual edition of the world’s best “Golden Age” universities – those founded in the aftermath of the Second World War – is once again topped by the University of California, San Diego, while a mainland Chinese university features in the top 10 for the first time.

9. THE University Impact Rankings 2019: Canada leads the way

This country analysis of our pioneering new ranking – focused on universities’ social and economic impacts – reveals that universities in Canada, Ireland and Australia are the highest performing institutions on average.

8. THE World Reputation Rankings 2019: results announced

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Young academics are more likely to hold new, Asian or technology-focused universities in high regard than their older peers, according to the data behind our latest World Reputation Rankings.

7. WSJ/THE US College Rankings 2020: Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins rise

The University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University soar up our student-focused ranking of US universities, which was published in September.

6. The overseas campus model provides benefits in a post-Brexit world

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Shearer West, vice-chancellor and president at the University of Nottingham, writes about the advantages of overseas campuses ahead of the launch of our 2020 World University Rankings.

5. How universities can help create a more sustainable world

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Santa Ono, president and vice-chancellor at the University of British Columbia, explores how universities can collaborate on achieving sustainable cities, gender equality, healthy oceans and global partnerships.

4. It's time for Chinese universities to realign their goals

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Having caught up in the numbers game, Tsinghua University and China more widely are ready to pursue research and teaching suited to their unique priorities, according to Bin Yang, provost and vice-president at the institution, in this opinion article from September.

3. THE World University Rankings 2020: reaching critical mass

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The California Institute of Technology’s rise to second place in this year’s World University Rankings shows that bigger is not always better when it comes to university performance, while China, Australia, Germany and Canada all managed to boost their performances, according to our in-depth analysis of the table.

2. THE University Impact Rankings 2019: results announced

The University of Auckland tops our inaugural University Impact Rankings – the first global ranking to assess the impact of universities based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

1. THE World University Rankings 2020: results announced

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And the most popular rankings article of 2019 was…our story on the results of our flagship World University Rankings 2020, showing that UK universities are struggling as the funding gap between the UK sector and other major higher education systems widens.