The University has climbed 14 places to 258th position in the World University Rankings. Essex is also ranked 123rd in the world for the Social Sciences.

The fifth issue of the Times Higher Education – QS World University Rankings was published today, confirming the UK ‘s higher education system is second only to that of the USA.

Harvard has been the top ranked university in the world for each of the past five years, while Cambridge and Oxford are ranked third and fourth respectively in 2008, after Yale. The rankings focus on research and teaching quality, and also factor in the opinions of academics and graduate recruiters.