ST ANDREWS University has slipped four places to equal 87th in the annual world university rankings.

The Fife university, which shares its spot with America’s Purdue University, is the third highest ranked of Scotland’s educational establishments behind Edinburgh in equal 20th and Glasgow in 79th.

The list has been produced for the last six years but compilers say that the traditional dominance of the elite universities is now being challenged.

Although Harvard, Cambridge and Yale top the ratings in that order, University College London pipped Oxford University to fourth place.

Oxford shares fifth with Imperial College London.

Six US and four UK universities make up the top 10.

Ben Sowter, head of the QS Intelligence Unit responsible for the rankings, said, “The rise of University College London and Imperial College in recent years shows that concerted research efforts can result in improved performance in the increasingly competitive field of global higher education.”

The list also showed:

l A dramatic fall in the number of North American universities in the top 100, from 42 in 2008 to 36, reflecting the growing impact of Asian and European higher education institutions.

l There are 39 European universities in the top 100, up from 36 in 2008. ETH Zurich is the top ranked continental European university in 20th place.

l The number of Asian universities in the top 100 also increased—from 14 to 16. Tokyo University, in 22nd, is the highest ranked Asian university, ahead of Hong Kong University at 24th.

The calculations leading to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings are based on data gathered in academic peer review, employer review, international faculty ratio, international student ratio, student faculty ratio and citations per faculty.