Ninth Level Ireland

“Trinity has fallen in all five broad areas measured by the QS World University Rankings by Subject for 2020. The College’s decline in subject rankings continues a trend of a downward spiral in world university rankings, which last year led it to call for a national strategy to improve the performance of all Irish universities in such rankings …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 5 March]

“This week, students had their first glimpse of Trinity’s new strategic plan, which promises to overhaul many aspects of College life. The document contains a raft of promises, such as moderately increasing student numbers, attracting more capital investment and placing sustainability at the centre of Trinity’s mission …” (more)

[University Times, 2 February]

“John Fitzgerald of Swinburne University of Technology has written an article in the Journal of Political Risk that argues that Western universities should boycott, that is not participate in or refer to, the Shanghai rankings in order to show opposition to the current authoritarian trend in Chinese higher education …” (more)

[University Ranking Watch, 20 January]

Abstract: This paper presents findings from a research project which aimed to rank Australian higher education institutions on their ‘equity performance’; that is, the extent to which they were accessible for, supportive of and benefiting students traditionally under-represented in higher education. The study comprised a conceptual consideration of how higher education equity might be defined and empirically measured, drawing on extant scholarly research as well as observations from key stakeholders, including equity practitioners, researchers, policymakers and higher education executives and institutional planners. Based on these findings, a theoretical framework for higher education equity performance was constructed, and performance indicators identified and subjected to systematic assessment for real-world application. The ensuing ranking system was populated with institutional data from the 37 public universities in Australia. The findings from this analysis indicate that a ranking system may not be the optimal method for assessing higher education equity performance and highlights the subjective nature of both higher education equity and higher education ranking systems.

Tim Pitman, Daniel Edwards, Liang-Cheng Zhang, Paul Koshy and Julie McMillan, Constructing a ranking of higher education institutions based on equity: is it possible or desirable?, Higher Education (2020). Published: 3 January 2020.

“One way or another we do seem to cover rather a large number of university rankings here, some of them UK-focused, others international and many of them really not very clever. All of them strive for greatness though in their relentless ordering of institutions. Inevitably though the question arises, who ranks the rankings? Well, here’s your answer …” (more)

[Paul Greatrix, Wonkhe, 17 December]

“Trinity College Dublin is the highest new entrant on the FT’s European business schools ranking for the year. This marks the first time TCD has returned to the prestigious table since 2007. It is in 60th place in the ‘rankings of rankings’, a list covering a wide number of academic programmes including MBAs …” (more)

[Charlie Taylor, Irish Times, 9 December]

“Universities serve many different purposes depending on who one asks. Some of these are obvious; they analyse societal problems and offer solutions to them, they train people to be better, more critical citizens. Some are more disputable such as whether they should explicitly prepare people for careers …” (more)

[Garrett Kennedy, University Observer, 26 November]

“UCD academics are paid some of the highest salaries in the country as well as having greater pay packages than their international counterparts. This may be due to UCD being recently ranked low in international research tables and if the university provides higher salaries to researchers and academics this positioning can be improved …” (more)

[Adam O’Sullivan, College Tribune, 24 November]

“Trinity College Dublin is the top college in the country. The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 released today shows that Trinity has come ahead of University College Dublin and University College Cork, who are in joint second place …” (more)

[BreakingNews.ie, 3 November]

“The fall of Ireland’s top universities in international rankings has for a number of years teetered on the verge of becoming a national embarrassment. But perhaps even more embarrassing is that this week, two of the most powerful figures in Irish higher education took entirely antithetical stances on how to tackle the problem …” (more)

[University Times, 28 October]

“Recently there has been some interest in ranking higher education systems in addition to institutions or departments. See here and here. But both of these efforts, from Universitas 21 and QS, rank only 50 countries …” (more)

[University Ranking Watch, 26 October]

“Provost Patrick Prendergast has called for the introduction of a national strategy on university rankings, after Trinity’s persistent falls in both the Times Higher Education and QS rankings in recent years …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 21 October]

“Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to develop a strategy to address the falling university rankings …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 17 October]

“Trinity’s Fellows are divided over an idea mooted by Provost Patrick Prendergast that could see the number of Irish students admitted by the College fall dramatically in the coming years, with some rejecting it for ‘moral reasons’ while others argue it is ‘only option available’ to a College in rankings freefall …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 16 October]

“The average Trinity student will work a part time job during the college year and, when hitting a bout of bad mental health, might run into lengthy waiting periods to see a counsellor or psychiatrist with College mental health services. If they’re from outside Dublin, they are paying on average €12,495 per year (including rent) to attend college in the single most expensive city in the eurozone …” (more)

[Adam McQuillan, Trinity News, 8 October]

“In the public sector, there is only ever one solution to problems, and that is to call for more funding. Sadly, Irish universities are no different. Two stories last week illustrate the tendency. The first revealed that Trinity College in Dublin is considering reducing the number of Irish students who can attend in future unless the Government provides more resources …” (more)

[Eilis O’Hanlon, Independent, 6 October]

“Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether education is key to maintaining competitiveness here; and his further views on the continuing falling in the rankings by universities here in the university league …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 1 October]

“Provost Patrick Prendergast has warned that Trinity may need to reduce the number of students it admits in the next five years, arguing that reducing the staff–student ratio is crucial if the College is to arrest slides in university rankings. Speaking today on the Seán O’Rourke show on RTÉ Radio 1, Prendergast said …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University News, 2 October]

“The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has defended his government’s record on investment in third-level institutions in response to a question about Trinity’s fall in global rankings. The Taoiseach made his comments yesterday whilst on a visit to the United Nations in New York. When asked about Trinity’s falling position in the rankings, he claimed there has been a ‘substantial injection of cash into our universities’ …” (more)

[Shannon Connolly, Trinity News, 27 September]

“Global rankings, especially THE‘s, have been very useful to British universities, at least to those sitting at the apex of the system. If a Russell Group university falls in the rankings then it is the fault of impending Brexit and/or the terrible austerity inflicted on the nation’s research prowess. If it rises then this is cause for congratulation but with a hint of foreboding …” (more)

[University Ranking Watch, 26 September]