The proliferation of rankings has led to universities selectively quoting metrics in attempts to boost prestige, student applications, and state support. A recent example is Brunel University's claim that it is the joint most international university in the UK and fourth most international in the world.
This is based on the International Outlook pillar in the most recent edition of the Times Higher Education (THE) world rankings.
THE is not the only ranking with an internationalisation indicator. Let's take a look at the others.
In the QS world rankings Brunel is 9th in the UK for International Faculty, joint 12th for International Students, and 36th for International Research Network,
In the latest URAP (at the time of writing) it is 34th in England for International Collaboration.
In Round University Rankings, Brunel is 9th for International academic staff in the UK, 17th for international students, and 22nd for International Level.
In Leiden Ranking it is joint 6th in the UK for International Collaboration.
I don't want to denigrate Brunel in any way but the claim that it is the most international university in the UK is misleading and should be withdrawn or at least accompanied by a very big *.
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