Mark Sudbury, Head of World 100 and Reputation, looks at the 2021 WUR rankings, overall trends and how World 100 members have performed.

A panel of World 100 members will be hosting a session at THE World Academic Summit looking at how university communications has had to evolve over the past 18 months.

In 2021, it is impossible to discuss the subject of reputation without looking at the impact of Covid19, and this is perhaps another key sign that an institution’s reputation cannot be solely attributable to rankings.

Rankings and reputation are entwined but reputation is about more than rankings. That was the key conclusion from a World 100-moderated session at the THE Arab Rankings Forum on 27 July. World 100 Director Louise Simpson discussed ‘Using Rankings to Enhance Reputation’ with a panel of experts from some of the biggest universities in the Arab region.

Ask someone on the street to name a prestigious university they will often name institutions with a long, rich history, established hundreds of years ago. But there are numerous institutions all over the world, founded much more recently, that are hot on the heels of those historical, elite universities. One of those universities is Aalto University, Finland, formed in just 2010.

World 100 Director Louise Simpson explored the origins and creative thinking behind the visual identity of Finland’s Aalto University during the THE Young University Summit, when she spoke to their president, Ilkka Niemelä.

World 100 members have again proved the link between reputation and the real-world impact of universities, achieving 4 of the top 10 places (and 9 of the top 20) in the latest THE Impact Rankings published on 21st April 2021.

Part 2 of our summary of Louise's session at THE Live US, looking a rebuilding public trust in universities. In this piece, we look at the conversation relating to people's trust in sources of news and information and how that relates to trust in universities, specifically during the pandemic.

On April 1st, World 100 Director Louise Simpson, hosted a panel of experts at THE Live US. The panel looked at rebuilding public trust in universities and featured Sue Cunningham, President and CEO of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and Nicky Old, Director for Communications and External Relations for Universities UK.

The Knowledge Partnership, the founder of W100, was acquired by THE in December

World 100 member, University of Glasgow win University of the Year at the 16th Annual Times Higher Education Awards, alongside further member wins

Universities with a clear focus on reputation continue to perform strongly in the latest THE World University Rankings (WUR 2021), with 72% of W100 Reputation Network members improving or maintaining their position.