每日電訊報：

British universities are slipping down the world rankings, with experts blaming the decline on pressure to admit more disadvantaged students.

Cambridge University, which for many years was ranked the best in the world and for a decade held a place in the top three, has now dropped down to fifth place, according to the QS World University Rankings.

Overall, 51 of the UK’s 76 institutions have slipped down in the rankings since last year. The Russell Group members, which represents 24 of the UK's most selective universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, saw 16 dropping down in the rankings.

Professor Alan Smithers, who is head of the centre for education and employment at the University of Buckingham, said that the decline was because “universities are no longer free to take their own decisions and recruit the most talented students which would ensure top positions in league tables”.

He said that instead, universities are forced to comply with “all sorts of requirements in terms of the ethnic mix, the levels of income of the students and whether they come from low income areas”.

Under the current fees system, any English university wishing to charge tuition fees of over around £6,000 must have an access agreement approved by Offa. This sets out what the university intends to do to recruit and retain youngsters who would not normally study for a degree.

Earlier this year, the higher education tsar warned that top universities must make more effort to accept poor students.

中文翻譯如下：

英國大學的世界排行下滑，專家將其歸咎于招收更多窮學生的壓力。

 

在QS世界大學排行榜上，劍橋大學曾多年排名世界第一，最近10年以來也一直保持在前三位，但如今，劍橋大學卻降至第五名。

 

總體來看，英國的76所高校中有51所的排名相比去年有所下降。代表牛津大學和劍橋大學等英國24所頂尖大學的羅素大學集團中有16所排名下滑。

白金漢大學教育和就業(yè)中心主任艾倫•史密瑟斯教授說，排名下滑是因為“大學無法再自由地做決定，招收最有才華的學生，而只有這樣才能讓大學保住在排行榜中的高位。”

 

他說，如今大學被迫滿足“各種要求，關(guān)于種族融合、學生收入水平，以及是否來自低收入地區(qū)”。

 

在當前的收費制度下，任何想收取超6000英鎊學費的大學，都必須有公平入學辦公室通過的準入?yún)f(xié)議。這一協(xié)議規(guī)定了大學為招收和留住那些沒條件攻讀學位的年輕人所計劃采取的措施。

 

今年早些時候，公平入學辦公室警告說，頂尖大學必須作出更多努力來接納貧窮學生。