Overview

In 2018, the University of the West Indies (UWI) began participating in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE Rankings). Our strategic goal has been to rank among the top 5% of universities globally. Since then, despite the addition of hundreds of new entrants and changes in THE's ranking criteria, The UWI has consistently upheld this strategic objective over the years.

About Times Higher Education (THE)

  • THE has provided trusted, independently quality assured performance data on universities since 2004.
  • It is highly regarded as one of the three longest established and most influential global rankings the world’s most comprehensive university rankings.
  • Over the past six years, The UWI has submitted itself for the following rankings produced by Times Higher Education.
    • World University Rankings
      The World University Rankings is Times Higher Education's flagship ranking, which evaluates five critical elements of leading research-focused universities: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
    • Golden Age University Rankings
      The Golden Age ranking uses Times Higher Education data to cast a spotlight on the best universities established for more than 50 years, but less than 80 years.
    • Latin America Rankings
      The World University Rankings performance indicators are the heart of the Latin America University Rankings, but we make some adjustments to take account of the region’s unique characteristics.
    • Impact Rankings
      THE’s Impact Rankings measure the progress of universities working to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • The Times Higher Education (THE) has made several changes to its ranking criteria in recent years, including:
    • World University Rankings
      The methodology for the 2024 rankings includes a new rankings engine, a new data collection system, and more data validation. The methodology also includes a wider range of bibliometric measures, improved international metrics, and an expanded role for knowledge transfer.
    • Impact Rankings
      The 2024 rankings include new measures to stabilize the rankings, such as replacing questions with higher standards and adjusting the calculation of total scores. The overall score is created by averaging the scores with those from the previous year, except for new universities.
    • Subject rankings
      The 2024 subject rankings include a publication threshold by discipline and an academic staff threshold by discipline. For example, the engineering subject ranking requires a minimum of 500 papers published in engineering over the five-year period.

Highlights of The UWI's Performance in THE's Rankings: 2018–2024

  • The UWI is #1 in the Caribbean – it is the only English-speaking Caribbean university to make the THE’s various rankings list since its debut in 2018.
  • The UWI is the only university in the English-speaking Caribbean that meets the qualification criteria for THE’s rankings, which include having published at least 1,000 papers academic papers over five years and offering undergraduate education covering a range of subjects.
  • The UWI’s best performance has been in THE’s Impact Rankings.
  • The UWI’s most robust performance in World Rankings Criteria is around THE’s Research pillar (pre-THE’s 2024 criteria changes)

Annual Performance – Publicly Reported Highlight

Year Position Statement THE Performance Tables News Reference
2019 UWI ranks in the Top 5% of Universities in the World Global Rankings New Rankings put The UWI among top 5 percent of best Universities in the world https://sta.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=21839
2020 UWI ranks in the top 1% in Latin America University Rankings; Golden Age University Rankings; and Impact Rankings Latin America University Rankings The UWI’s ‘Triple Firsts’ in latest Times Higher Education rankings https://sta.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=22114
Golden Age University Ranking
Impact Rankings
2021 UWI ranks in the top 2.5% of universities in the World (UNESCO Base Data) Impact Rankings The UWI’s Stellar Leadership Confirmed: Times Higher Education 2021 Impact Rankings https://sta.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=22249
2022 UWI Ranks among the top 1% of Latin American universities Latin America University Rankings UWI Consolidates at the Top https://sta.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=22476
2023 UWI Ranks among the top 1% of Latin American universities Latin America University Rankings Global UWI’s Reputation and Resilience https://sta.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=22534
20241 UWI produces a perfect score in the Impact Rankings for its relationships to support the goals in pursuit of SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals. Impact Rankings UWI Gets a 100% Global Ranking https://sta.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=22859
2025 UWI ranks in the top 5% of Universities in the World Global Rankings UWI ranked among the world’s best, sixth year running TBC

Updated: December 2025

Contact: For queries or further information please contact the University Marketing and Communications Office via email at unimarkcom@uwi.edu

20241 presents a new baseline for The UWI with changes in the criterion for measuring Research Quality implemented in 2024.

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