The rankings, which measure research quality, international commitment, graduate employability and teaching commitment have found the top 100 universities are spread across 22 countries; however, only British and American universities achieved a space in the coveted top 10. Fifteen Asian universities appear in the top 100, with the highest ranking institution being the University of Hong Kong at #23.

The top 10 from the QS Rankings were:

1. Cambridge
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. University College London
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. Oxford
7. Imperial College London
8. The University of Chicago
9. California Institute of Technology
10. Princeton

The QS rankings are weighted:

• 40% to academic reputation
• 10% to employability
• 20% to citations
• 20% to the staff-student ratio
• 10% to how international the make-up of the faculty and student body is.

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS said: “Unlike other rankings systems which rely heavily on statistical indicators of university research, QS also takes into account the most up-to-date views of employers and academics, reflecting the broader interests of students and parents.

“QS rankings reflect the highly competitive environment of global higher education.

“Given the uncertain economic outlook, it is reassuring for students that the top 200 universities are also, by and large, the most popular universities with employers, suggesting that a world-class degree remains the best path to a great job.”

Prior to 2010, QS had worked in collaboration with the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine to compile their rankings. This year, however, THE are publishing their own rankings, having criticised QS for what they consider to be an over-reliance on the subjective experiences of academics and employers. THE have pledged to reduce the weighting behind reputation surveys for their rankings.

The overall trends of the study showed a dwindling in the US dominance of the league table and a surge in Asian universities claiming places that could rival America’s Ivy League and the UK’s Oxbridge in coming years.

The top 10 was dominated, as usual, by the US and UK institutions with Harvard claiming the top spot for the sixth consecutive year. The University of Cambridge knocked Yale University out of second place. University of Oxford slipped by one place this year down to a joint fifth with Imperial College London. Overall there were four UK universities to the United States six in the top 10.

However the real success story is the Asian institutions, with appearances from institutions in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia. Japan holds 11 places in the top 200 with the University of Tokyo ranking the highest at 22 and Hong Kong holds five positions, three of them in the top 50 starting with the University of Hong Kong at 24. Mainland China maintains its total of six institutions from last year, South Korea holds two places and Malaysia joined the league table at 180th place with Universiti Malaya.

Long Po Yee, a commenter on the Guardian website said:

“As a Hong Konger, I am really very happy to see that Hong Kong universities are in high quality. For me, I have studied in the Chinese Univeristy of Hong Kong (CUHK), and I felt that is really great and they offered green environment with quality education and facilities.”

You can download the full league table of all 200 universities here or visit the Times Higher Education website for a break down on the scoring for special areas of expertise.