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Universities in Hong Kong
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PolyU shoots up in Britain-based higher education rankings, while HKU remains top university in Hong Kong despite drop

  • Hong Kong’s institutions of higher learning see mixed results in latest Times Higher Education rankings
  • The list includes the highest number of Asian universities in its top 100 in its 17-year history

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An aerial view of Polytechnic University in Hung Hom. The university shot up 42 places in a Britain-based ranking of global institutions of higher learning this year. Photo: Handout
Chan Ho-him
The positions of three Hong Kong universities improved in a global ranking compiled by a Britain-based publication, with Polytechnic University shooting up 42 places in the list despite last year’s anti-government protests, which briefly turned its campus into a fiery battleground.
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The University of Hong Kong, however, dropped four places in the rankings to become the world’s 39th-best university – while keeping its place as the highest-ranked local institution – in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. The fall came after HKU achieved a seven-year high in last year’s rankings.

Tsinghua University, in mainland China, remained the highest-ranked Asian institution, climbing by three spots to 20th place globally, followed by Peking University at 23rd. Tsinghua was the first institution in Asia to break into the top 20 since 2011.

The National University of Singapore was ranked third-highest in Asia, maintaining its position at 25th overall. A total of 16 Asian universities made it into the top 100, the highest number on record in the annual rankings 17-year history.

The latest edition, released on Wednesday, covered more than 1,500 higher education institutions from 93 countries and regions, with universities assessed on 13 sets of indicators, including quality of teaching and learning, research strength and number of citations, as well as international outlook, which takes into account the proportion of international students and staff.

Hong Kong’s anti-government protests, which began last June in opposition to the now-withdrawn extradition bill, saw several university campuses occupied by protesters in November. The most violent clashes took place at Chinese and Polytechnic universities, with the latter enduring a 13-day siege as protesters inside threw petrol bombs and even shot arrows at advancing police.
Anti-government protesters set fire to facilities at Polytechnic University in Hung Hom in the early hours of November 11, 2019. Photo: Sam Tsang
Anti-government protesters set fire to facilities at Polytechnic University in Hung Hom in the early hours of November 11, 2019. Photo: Sam Tsang
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Nonetheless, Chinese University (CUHK) rose from 57th to 56th in the latest THE rankings, while Polytechnic University (PolyU) surged from 171st to 129th, a result researchers said was driven by a significant increase in citations, or the number of times its research was referenced in international papers.

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