Universities in the UK are being challenged over claims to potential students that they are in the “top 1%” of the world’s universities.
Reading University is going to have to take down such a claim after a complaint to the advertising watchdog.
University rankings are increasingly influential for recruitment, particularly for overseas students.
In the new World University Rankings, the top three are US universities – MIT, Stanford and Harvard.
Cambridge is the highest ranked UK university, with three other UK universities in the top 10 of this global league table, published on Thursday.
Advertising to students
But the advertising watchdog has been examining a complaint about how university rankings are being used in marketing.
A description of Reading University as being in the top 1% worldwide had been challenged by a complainant, who said such a figure could not be substantiated and could be misleading.
The Advertising Standards Authority says that this has been “informally resolved”, with the university agreeing that it will remove the claim, without going ahead with a formal investigation or ruling […] Read more (external link)
Source: BBC