The University’s plans to be placed in the top 50 world universities are in jeopardy after Leeds slipped nine places in the world rankings.

The international rankings, released this week by the Times Higher Education magazine (THE), show that Leeds University fell from 133rd to 142nd place.

According to the University website, Leeds’ strategy was to have secured “a place amongst the top 50 Universities in the world” by 2015. With the university now in 142nd place, it appears that this ambition is now unrealistic.

In response, a spokesperson for the University did not comment on their previous 2015 target, but instead dismissed the rankings: “League tables are artificial constructs; they all use different methodologies and produce different – not necessarily sensible – results. They measure what can be easily counted, not what really counts.”

The UK’s other leading research-intensive universities fared no better, with the University of Bristol falling eight places to 74th, the University of Sheffield down nine places to joint 110th and Newcastle University down 34 places to joint 180th. Leeds Metropolitan University failed to make the list.

Phil Baty, editor at the Times Higher Education rankings, said: “Outside the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, England’s world-class universities face a collapse into global mediocrity.”

He added: “Given the seriousness of the funding cuts facing England and the strength of the competition, the tripled student tuition fees introduced this year look increasingly like a sticking plaster for an amputation.”

Josh Smith, LUU’s Education officer, told Leeds Student that, whilst he is disappointed, we should put this into perspective: “there are at least 10,000 higher education institutions worldwide and we feature at 142nd.”

Asked whether Vice Chancellor Michael Arthur, who chaired the Russell Group, was to blame for the increase in fees and the resulting slump in British university rankings, he said:

“It is impossible to attribute the rise in tuition fees to one person but I remain disappointed that fees in the UK, and particularly at Leeds, have increased by so much.”

The California Institute for Technology claimed the prestigious title as the world’s best university, Oxford came second and Stanford third.

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