The UK now boasts six of the world’s top 20 universities, according to a new global table.
Edinburgh and King’s College London have edged into the top 20 of the QS World University rankings.
Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and Oxford all made it into the top 10.
But John O’Leary, of QS, warned that unless the UK puts more funding into higher education its leading position could slip.
Edinburgh rose to 17th place from 21st last year and King’s College London to 19th from 26th in 2012.
US domination.