This undated photo shows students walking on the Hung Hom campus of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) had the biggest jump among local institutions in the 2021 Times Higher Education World University Rankings despite weathering extensive damage from anti-government protests last November when radicals occupied its campus. 

PolyU rose by 42 places in the 2021 Times Higher Education World University Rankings to rank the 129th while HKU fell by six places to the 39th

PolyU rose by 42 places on the latest list to rank the 129th, three places behind City University of Hong Kong, whose ranking remained unchanged from a year ago.

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When contacted by China Daily, a PolyU spokesperson said, “It is very encouraging to see the university advance 42 places... PolyU will make reference to such rankings and other forms of evaluation to identify areas for improvement, so as to elevate our performance in education and research.”

Hong Kong Baptist University is the other local institution to have made discernable gains, edging up from last year’s placement in the 401 to 500 segment to find itself placed in the range between 351 and 400 in terms of ranking. 

The University of Hong Kong remained the city’s best tertiary institution though it slipped down the list by six places to the 39th. As per the rankings, the 119-year-old institution is the fifth best university in Asia, after Tsinghua University, Peking University, National University of Singapore and the University of Tokyo.

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Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, down nine places on the list, shared the 56th position with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which rose by one place in this year’s rankings.

The rankings are compiled in a prestigious annual publication by Times Higher Education (THE) magazine and were unveiled on Wednesday. It covered 1,527 higher education institutions from 93 countries and regions this time, assessing them in terms of teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.

Contact the writer at jefferygu@chinadailyhk.com