Understanding higher education rankings is more than just chasing prestige; it’s about interpreting indicators that reflect teaching quality, research strength, and global outlook. As a student choosing where to study, an academic seeking university improvement, or an administrator benchmarking performance, knowing how the rankings work matters. The brand “Times Higher Education” (THE) is central to that understanding. From its role in global university league tables to its influence on policy and student decision-making, THE has become a major player in the higher education ecosystem. Here are 15 key facts that shed light on what THE is, how it operates, and why it matters.
1. THE began as a UK weekly publication
THE originally launched in 1971 as the Times Higher Education Supplement, affiliated with The Times newspaper in the UK. Over the decades it evolved from a weekly publication into a global analytics, rankings and events business. The shift from print to data and events underpins its current influence.
2. It focuses on university performance globally
THE’s flagship offering is the World University Rankings, an annual table that assesses research-intensive universities worldwide. Its mission is to provide transparent performance comparisons across institutions, rather than simply serve as a marketing list.
3. Five core missions underpin THE’s rankings
According to THE, it evaluates universities across the three main missions of an institution; teaching, research and impact—and uses those themes to inform its data coverage.
4. Methodology is based on five pillars
The World University Rankings methodology groups performance indicators into five pillars: Teaching (learning environment); Research (environment and quality); Citations (research influence); International outlook; Industry/knowledge transfer.
5. A broad range of indicators supports the rankings
THE uses dozens of metrics such as student-staff ratio, doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio, research income, citation impact, proportion of international staff and students, and industry income. For example: teaching reputation, student-staff ratio and institutional income form part of the “Teaching” pillar.
6. The methodology is updated regularly
THE has periodically refined its methodology to reflect evolving research and teaching environments. For instance, a major update occurred in 2011, and further significant changes were introduced in recent years to account for globalisation of higher education.
7. Reputation plays a substantial role
Part of the Teaching and Research pillars relies on reputation surveys. THE conducts a global Academic Reputation Survey of tens of thousands of scholars to capture perceived prestige. This means institutional reputation has real weight in the rankings.
8. Data-driven, not just qualitative
While reputation matters, THE backs its rankings with extensive data. For example, in preparing the 2026 list, THE drew on over 174.9 million citations to 18.7 million publications from the Elsevier Scopus database.
9. Access to rankings guides student decisions
THE provides detailed breakdowns for each university covered: on staff-student ratios, income per student, international presence, and gender balance. These profiles help prospective students make informed choices beyond just “which is ranked higher”.
Times Higher Education (THE)
10. Rankings influence institutional strategy
Universities increasingly use THE rankings as benchmarks. Institutional leaders track how changes in staff, funding or internationalisation may impact their pillar scores. THE’s visibility makes the ranking an organisational strategy tool.
11. THE covers beyond the world university rankings
In addition to its core rankings, THE produces subject rankings, impact rankings (e.g., Sustainable Development Goals alignment), and regional tables (such as the Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings).
12. Transparency and critique are part of the process
THE publishes its full methodology (e.g., 2025, 2026 editions) with detailed weights and definitions, which allows scholars and institutions to scrutinise the process. It faces legitimate critique—such as the weight of reputation—but still maintains transparency.
13. Inclusion and global representation have increased
For example, the 2025 edition of THE’s World University Rankings included over 2,000 universities and expanded representation from more countries.
This shift means the rankings are gradually becoming more globalised and less dominated by traditional Anglo-American institutions.
14. Students and policymakers rely on THE data
THE’s data and rankings are used not only by prospective students, but also by governments, accreditation bodies and research funders. The use of performance metrics impacts higher education policy, investment decisions, and international collaboration.
15. Ranked universities must interrogate their own performance
For readers who are educators or institutional administrators, one of the clearest benefits of interacting with THE is diagnosing institutional performance. By looking at where a university scores weakly (e.g., low industry income or limited international staff), leadership can target improvements based on real data.
