Six universities in Hong Kong drop in global rankings

Six of seven publicly funded Hong Kong universities included in the latest QS World University Rankings have dropped down the table after three new metrics - sustainability, employment outcomes and international research network - have been introduced in its latest calculation, along with changes in the weighting of existing metrics.

Among the seven universities, five of them managed to get into the top 100 of the ranking by global higher education analysts at Quacquarelli Symonds, which features 1,500 institutions across 104 locations this year.

The University of Hong Kong still remains the top university in the city after dropping five places from last year to 26th, followed by Chinese University which slid nine places to 47th.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) dropped 20 places to 60th, which is the institution’s worst performance since the rankings were launched 12 years ago, also the first time the Sai Kung-based university has dropped out of the top 50.

Meanwhile, Polytechnic University held on to its 65th position from last year. It was also the first time the institution has outstripped City University, which dropped from 54th to 70th.

As for the other two local institutes included in the rankings, Baptist University slid from 281st place to 295th and Lingnan University dropped out of the 601st to 650th range to 641st to 650th, its worst ranking in more than a decade.

For the global ranking’s top three, Massachusetts Institute of Technology celebrates twelve years at the top, the University of Cambridge retains 2nd place while the University of Oxford climbs one position to 3rd.