QS World University Rankings: UCD up eight places to 168

Posted June 08, 2017

This year’s improvement in the (opens in a new window)QS World University Rankings to 168 is welcome, and reflects the impact of increases in both academic and employer reputation surveys.

It is also a sign of some recovery in the staff-student ratio, which had fallen outside the ranking of the top 500 last year and is now at 439. Back in 2008, University College Dublin ranked 86 under this measure, which accounts for 20% of the overall ranking score. Funding cuts by Government have bitten hard on the higher education sector in Ireland since the economic crash in 2008 and the recovery has yet to reach the resource-challenged universities.

Contextualising the staff-student score, the President of UCD, Professor Andrew Deeks said:

"Because of the failure of the Government to address the funding issue facing the sector, the only way for the university to increase the number of staff has been through using non-exchequer income raised primarily by recruiting additional non-EU students. This has directly improved UCD’s ranking under the staff-student ratio criterion, but the ratio remains unacceptably low compared with our competitor universities overseas. Unless there is movement on the funding of Irish students soon, the University will have to seriously consider the option of reducing the number of places available to Irish students in order to preserve quality."

“We continue to pursue our ambitions to provide a great educational experience for our students and to be a centre of research excellence that impacts on society through the work of our academics.  I wish to thank staff for their continuing dedication through a difficult time for Irish universities.”