Best Schools - Oxford University has been ranked first in an international league table for the fourth year in a ro

UK universities have maintained their global dominance as Oxford University topped the world rankings for the fourth year running.

The rankings show Oxford once again named as the best university in the world, ahead of a US university - the California Institute of Technology - in second place.

The annual Times Higher Education world rankings put Cambridge in third place and Imperial College London in tenth.

But there is a warning from the compilers of the rankings that other UK universities are "struggling to hold their own" against global rivals.

They warn Germany is "poised to overtake" the UK in having the most top universities in Europe.

The full list is of 1,300 universities in 92 countries, with the rankings taking into account teaching quality, the volume and reputation of research, citations of research, income from industry and international links.

An analysis accompanying the rankings says that the UK's so-called "golden triangle" - Oxford, Cambridge and London universities - continues to be very successful.

Government to allow private school teachers to enrol in defined contribution scheme

The government is proposing new rules for the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which will allow private schools to enrol new teachers into a defined contribution scheme while keeping existing staff in the public sector pension fund.

In a consultation published on September 9^th 2019, the Department for Education proposed to amend the rules governing the DB scheme so that private schools can choose to keep their existing teachers in the scheme, while offering alternative pension provision to new teaching employees, including auto-enrolment.

Currently, state and private schools all contribute to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, making it easier for teachers to move between the two sectors.

But recognising the cost burden on independent schools the government said in April it will consider allowing these schools to leave the scheme via phased withdrawal.

However current scheme rules dictate that schools cannot offer membership to some eligible teachers but not others, therefore while independent schools are able to leave the TPS this would require them to withdraw all of their teachers at the same time.