The UK now shares its position as the best represented country in an international league table of top young universities, amid warnings of increasing competition from Asia.
There are 14 UK institutions in the 100 best universities under 50 years old, compared to 18 last year and 20 in 2012, a Times Higher Education (THE) magazine rankings has shown.
The UK had the most universities in the league table last year, but it now shares this position with Australia. Only one UK institution features in the top 10 of the list, Lancaster University, which climbs from 14th last year to 10th place.
The highest placed universities after Lancaster are the University of Warwick, up one place to 12th, the University of Essex, up to 22nd from joint 29th, Brunel University up to 29th from 44th and the University of Bath which remains static at joint 34th.
Only two out of the UK institutions on the list were founded after the 1960s, both former polytechnics that gained university status under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Plymouth University moves up to joint 42nd from joint 53rd, while the University of Hertfordshire rises 15 places to joint 60th. Read more
