While Oxford and Cambridge take the top two spots in this ranking - with Imperial College also in the top ten - but unlike the QS Top University table UCL does not make it in the top 20. However, there are 29 British universities in the top 100. The table is based on 13 performance indicators, encompassing the full range of a world-class research university’s core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The big story, though, is the rise of Chinese universities such as Tsinghua.