Maynooth University named outside the top 350 in the world but ranks favourably compared to other Irish colleges

Maynooth University has held onto its place in the top 400 colleges across the world again this year, ranking in the places between the top 350-400. It is a position that the college has occupied for a number of years now, but other Irish colleges aren't performing as well.

Trinity College has fallen outside 200 colleges for the first time after their rankings were not published by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings due to a human error that may have distorted some of the information about the historic Dublin college.

There are only four colleges in Ireland that occupy a higher place in the rankings than Maynooth University, with National Universty of Ireland, Galway now the highest placed as it comes in at 201-250. The Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland and University College Dublin also come into that bracket. University College Cork falls into the 351-400 category alongside Maynooth.

The fact that no Irish college is in the top 200 in the world reflects badly on the Irish education system however, and the editor of the rankings says it could have further implications.

Phil Baty, the editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, said:

"This is bad news for Ireland; the country’s best universities are struggling in the most comprehensive and the most exacting of all the global rankings. While the root of the problem is the increased competition among the world’s elite universities, particularly those in Asia, it seems clear that the major funding cuts endured by Ireland’s universities are causing problems."

Oxford University is ranked as the world's best college once again, while California Institute of Technology comes in second.