Rankings and league tables of universities are ubiquitous. While objections to their methodology are obvious and much debated, they are clearly a necessity as the starting-point for sifting through the vast amounts of data on university quality.

There is no official Irish government ranking of universities, and while there is a blizzard of official statistics about Irish universities, there is no very obvious way of turning them into a ranking – quality assurance mechanisms produce general assessments and suggestions for improvement, rather than producing a mark or score. There are various unofficial measures to which frequent reference is made.

World rankings. There are a number of rankings which seek to identify leading universities world-wide. Different ranking use very different methodologies, and are indeed not asking the same questions (some are meant to inform those planning to take a degree, others seek to determine the degree of influence or prominence of faculty members in an international context). For lists of rankings and discussion, see: College and university rankings (Wikipedia).

Some frequently-cited rankings relevant to Ireland are:

 

UNIVERSITAS 21

This ranking, first run in 2012, ranks individual countries in relation to their higher education systems. “Research authors at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, looked at the most recent data from 48 countries and territories across 20 different measures. The measures are grouped under four headings: resources (investment by government and private sector), output (research and its impact, as well as the production of an educated workforce which meets labour market needs), connectivity (international networks and collaboration which protects a system against insularity) and environment (government policy and regulation, diversity and participation opportunities). It also takes population size into account and produces some interesting results.” More here. Ireland was ranked 16th overall. The underlying measures were 12th for Resources, 22nd for Environment, 11th for Connectivity, and 17th for Output.

 

ARWU RANKINGS (the Shanghai rankings)

The Academic Ranking of World Universities covers the world, and an Irish ranking can be produced from the national sub-set of the data. Universities are ranked sequentially for 1st-100th place; universities below 100th place are ranked only in bands of 100. 2011 ranking (2010 in brackets):

1. Trinity – 201-300 (201-300)
2-3. UCC – 301-400 (401-500)
2-3. UCD – 301-400 (301-400)

Detail is here for 2011 and 2010.

 

THES RANKINGS

The Times Higher Education rankings cover the world, and an Irish ranking can be produced from the national sub-set of the data. For 2011-12 (world ranking in brackets) (2010-11):

1. Trinity (117) (76)
2. UCD (159) (94)
3. UCC (301-350) (243)
4/5.NUIG (351-400) (299)
4/5. NUIM (351-400) (-)

Detail is here.

 

THES REPUTATION RANKING

This ranking (new in 2012) ranked universities world-wide by reputation alone; only the top 100 institutions are named. The data is here. This generated some controversy within Ireland, as no Irish institution reached the top 100. See “No Irish universities make top 100 list” (Irish Times 15 March 2012); “University rankings played down” (Irish Times 15 March 2012).

 

SUNDAY TIMES UNIVERSITY LEAGUE TABLE

	2011	2010	2009
Trinity	1	1	1
UCC	2	3	3
UCD	3	2	2
DCU	4	5	6
NUIG	5	4	4
NUIM	6	7	5
UL	7	6	7
Dublin IT	8	8	8
Waterford IT	9	10	9
Letterkenny IT	10	18
Cork IT	11	9	11
Galway-Mayo IT	12	13

 

SUNDAY TIMES UNIVERSITY OF THE YEAR

2011
UCC (runner-up: NUIM); IT of the year Dublin IT (runner-up: Letterkenny IT)

2010
DCU (runner-up Trinity)

2009
NUIG (runner up UCD)

 

QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

The QS World University Rankings 2011 place Irish universities in these positions (2010 and 2009 in brackets):

• TCD 65 (52, 43)
• UCD 134 (114, 89)
• UCC 181 (184, 207)
• QUB 193 (197)
• NUI Galway 298 (232, 243)
• DCU 326 (330, 279)
• DIT 401-450 (395, 326)
• UL 451-500 (451-500, 401-450)
• NUI Maynooth 501-550, (401, 437)

 

QS WORLD UNIVERSITY SUBJECT RANKINGS

The QS World University Rankings also identify leading university departments world-wide. In the 2010-11 rankings, Irish departments in the top 200 are:

In top 50
Chemistry: TCD (36)
English: TCD (32)
History: TCD (39)
Mathematics: TCD (15)
Physics: TCD (49)
Politics and International Relations: TCD (50)
Psychology: TCD (48)
Sociology: TCD (48)

51-100
Accounting and Finance: TCD
Biological Science: TCD
Chemical Engineering: TCD QUB and UCD
Chemistry: QUB
Civil and Structural Engineering: TCD and UCD
Computer Science and Engineering: UCD
Economics/Econometrics: TCD and UCD
Electrical/Electronic Engineering: TCD and QUB
English: UCD
Geography: TCD and UCD
History: QUB and UCD
Law: TCD, QUB, UCD and UCC
Mechanical Engineering: TCD and UCC
Medicine: TCD
Modern Languages: TCD
Philosophy: TCD and UCD
Politics and International Relations: UCD
Psychology: UCD
Sociology: UCD

101-150
Accounting and Finance: QUB and UCD
Biological Science: UCD and UCC
Chemical Engineering: NUIG
Chemistry: UCD
Computer Science and Engineering: TCD
Earth Science: TCD
Electrical/Electronic Engineering: UCC
Environmental Sciences: TCD, UCD and UCC
Mathematics: UCD
Mechanical Engineering: NUIG
Medicine: UCD

151-200
Biological Science: NUIG
Chemical Engineering: UCC
Chemistry: UCC
Civil and Structural Engineering:QUB
Earth Science: NUIG, UCC and UCD
Electrical/Electronic Engineering: DIT, NUIG and UCD
Environmental Sciences: QUB
Geography: QUB
Mathematics: UCC and QUB
Mechanical Engineering: UCD and QUB
Medicine: UCC and QUB
Metallurgy and Material Science: UCD
Physics: UCC QUB and UCD
Psychology: QUB

 

QS STARS

This is a new ranking system, by which universities request a fuller evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses, and are assessed on a number of criteria. In September 2011, UCC and UL received rankings under this system. NUIG joined them in March 2012.  The current rankings are here.

 

RANKING WEB OF WORLD UNIVERSITIES

This is an international ranking, from which the Irish data can be extracted to make a ranking. As of January 2012:

University	as at January 2012	as at July 2011
TCD	248	200
UCD	408	418
DCU	432	483
UCC	451	388
UL	758	614
DIT	794	below 1000

(Others ranked below 1,000.)

 

QS BEST STUDENT CITIES IN THE WORLD

Introduced in 2012, cities are ranked for attractiveness to students. In the first run of this ranking, Dublin was ranked 8th (equal with Berlin). Relevant factors were: Rankings; Student Mix; Quality of Living; Employer Activity; amd Affordability.

 

See also: CRELL: critiquing global university rankings and their methodologies (GlobalHigherEd, 27 January 2009); Registrarism – League Tables (Registrarism, 23 February 2009); The Role and Relevance of Rankings in Higher Education Policymaking (IHEP, September 2009); University rankings don’t tell the whole story (Irish Times, 21 April 2009).