The UK can no longer boast of having the best university in the world after Cambridge was knocked off the top spot by a US institution.
The prestigious university ended its two year run as the best institution worldwide, slipping down to second place behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the annual QS World University Rankings. Oxford was pushed to six by University College London (UCL), which claimed fifth place in the league.
Cambridge has lost its crown as best university in the world
The table also shows that universities are taking on more international students than before.
Compared to 2011, the top 100 universities have almost 10% more overseas students on average this year, while the 49 UK universities in the top 500 list have seen an 11.7% average increase in international students.
Six of the top 20 universities with the highest proportion of overseas students are in the UK: the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UCL, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), St Andrews, Imperial College London and Essex.
The Al and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is now officially the best university in the world
The UK can still claim four spots in the top six with the other three being UCL, Oxford University and Imperial.
The other top 10 universities are all institutions in the United States.
In total, eight UK universities were in the top 50, and 18 overall in the top 100.
QS head of research Ben Sowter said: "The unprecedented acceleration in international recruitment reflects an escalating global battle for talent.
"120,000 more international students were reported by the top 500 universities this year, suggesting the global total may now exceed 4 million."
The UK universities to make the top 100 are:
- Cambridge University (2)
- UCL (4)
- Oxford University (5)
- Imperial College London (6)
- Edinburgh University (21)
- King's College London (KCL) (26)
- Bristol University (28)
- Manchester University (32)
- Glasgow University (54)
- Warwick University (58)
- Sheffield University (66)
- LSE (69)
- Nottingham University (72)
- Southampton University (73)
- Birmingham University (77)
- Durham University (92)
- St Andrews University (93)
- Leeds University (94