The University of Cambridge remains the highest ranked UK university in the QS World University Rankings, despite slipping one place overall to fourth.

The drop moves Cambridge out of the top three for the first time since the inaugural QS ranking in 2004, amidst a set of disappointing results for British universities.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the table for the fifth consecutive year, ahead of Stanford and Harvard.

Oxford, University College London, and Imperial College London were ranked in 6th, 7th, and 9th respectively to maintain 2015's tally of four British universities in the top ten.

Elsewhere, however, the results are less promising. Although the UK scored as many top-400, top-100, and top-50 ranked institutions as in 2015, remaining comfortably the world's second-best country for higher education, just 12 per cent of these have risen on last year's rankings.

Cambridge places fourth in Shanghai Rankings of world unis

Compared with the 47 per cent of top-400 American institutions and 68 per cent of top-400 Asian institutions that have seen rises, it appears that the USA is extending its dominance of the higher education sector, while institutions in China, Japan, Russia, Singapore, and South Korea continue to make inroads.

Head of research at Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Ben Sowter, has highlighted uncertainty in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union, as well as long term funding concerns, as the major factors behind the UK's performance.

Although the survey was closed before the date of the referendum, Sowter said in a statement “uncertainty over research funding, immigration rules, and the ability to hire and retain the top young talent from around the world seems to be damaging the reputation of the UK's higher education sector.”

The Top 5 Universities in the QS World Rankings

1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
2) Stanford University, USA
3) Harvard University, USA
4) University of Cambridge, UK
5) California Institute of Technology, USA

In response to funding fears, Chancellor Philip Hammond has guaranteed EU-level funding for all research projects signed off before the Autumn Statement.

Addressing the funding gap to American institutions has been a long-term objective for Cambridge. In 2015, the university launched the ‘Dear World, Yours Cambridge’ campaign, aiming to raise £2bn, to increase the University's endowment currently estimated at around £5bn, well short of Harvard University's estimated £25bn endowment.

Elsewhere in the UK, the University of Edinburgh rose two places to 19th, King's College fell two to 21st, Manchester rose four to 29th, the LSE fell two to 37th, Bristol fell four to 41st, Warwick fell three to 51st, and Glasgow fell one to 63rd.