每年，排名總是一樁大事。各大媒體都會釋出一份報告，告訴全世界的人，哪間大學是世界第一。



研究社會的經院人對此大概都有矛盾情感，一方面對之嗤之以鼻，認為自己的學術成就哪需要這等門外漢來評價認同，且站在研究者的立場，這報告有多精準還很值得商榷，但另方面，身為社會的一份子，又不得不捲入其中。



而媒體也多半不太給經院面子，每年世界大學的評價表中，經院排名是一年一年的以加速度在下降著。我不知道經院人的看法如何，但是每年消息一出台，經院院長就會在學校的首頁上發文，內容多半在圍繞在"我們這樣一間優秀的學校，為何會在排名表上會如此難看"，我每次看到都不禁莞爾一笑。院長的緊張滿可愛的。



今年，RAE 2008報告出來了。院長總算笑了。這是一份對英國各學術單位研究實力的評鑑。LSE在人類學、經濟學、法學、社會工作與歐洲研究等領域的研究水平，都是全英國第一。經院的所有科系中有百分之三十六的科系是全英國第一



院長驕傲的引述另一個教授的話說:"我們是一間小型且獨特的大學,貢獻了卓越的學術成果"



所以，院長很迅速的又在LSE首頁上發表了一篇報告，報告內容如下：

The London School of Economics and Political Science has confirmed its position as a world-leading research university, with outstanding success in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

LSE has the highest percentage of world-leading research of any university in the country, topping or coming close to the top of a number of rankings of research excellence. It is:

• equal second in the UK when universities are ranked using a grade point average of their research strengths
• first when universities are ranked according to the percentage of their research receiving the top 4*(world-leading) grade
• fourth when universities are ranked according to the percentage of their research receiving either 4* or 3* (internationally excellent) grades

LSE submitted over 90 per cent of eligible staff for assessment.

Howard Davies, Director of the LSE, said, 'I'm thrilled with our strong showing. To be ranked equal second among UK universities, using a grade point average, is impressive testament to the genuinely world-class research that goes on here -- and we have the highest percentage of 4*, or world-leading, research of any UK institution.'

Individual subject areas at LSE also head national tables of excellence. LSE comes top nationally by grade point average in Anthropology, Economics, Law, Social Policy and European Studies.

"We are a small, specialist university that has delivered outstanding results," said Professor Sarah Worthington, Pro Director for Research and External Relations. "Two-thirds of our staff work in LSE departments ranked in the top five in the country, and 36 per cent work in departments ranked first in the country. Students choosing to study at LSE know they will be taught by outstanding academics."

• Economics has come top in the country, whether ranked by grade point average or by the percentage of research receiving the top 4* grade, with 60 per cent of research activity considered world-leading and a further 35 per cent considered internationally excellent.
• Law also tops national tables, whether ranked by grade point average or by the percentage of research receiving the top 4* grade, with 45 per cent of its research ranked world-leading and 75 per cent world-leading or internationally excellent.
• Social Policy leads the field nationally, whether ranked by grade point average or by the percentage of research receiving the top 4* grade, with 50 per cent of its research recognised as world-leading, and 100 percent ranked at international level.
• Anthropology has the highest percentage of world-leading research of any UK anthropology department (40%), and is also equal first when ranked by grade point average.
• European Studies is first in the country when ranked by grade point average, with 65 per cent of its research judged world-leading or internationally excellent.

Using various ranking schemes, the LSE has calculated which universities are in the top five in the UK for research excellence. The table below ranks universities by institutional GPA, but the same five universities remain in the top five, although in different rankings, when assessed by percentage 4* or by percentage 4* and 3*. 

Top five universities by various rankings
Rank	Institution	Total FTEs submitted	GPA	%4 * for the institution	%4* or 3* for the institution
1	University of Cambridge	2040.39	2.98	32	71
2=	University of Oxford	2245.83	2.96	32	70
2=	London School of Economics and Political Science	490.36	2.96	35	68
4	Imperial College London	1224.57	2.94	26	73
5	University College London	1792.68	2.84	27	66

Grade Point Average (GPA) league table: LSE calculated institutional GPAs in a way that takes account of the relative size of UoA submissions within an institution. The percentage quality profiles for UoAs were converted to their FTE equivalents, these added to give an FTE quality profile for the whole institution, and that profile re-converted to a percentage quality profile. This was then averaged to give the GPA for the HEI.

Information is also given in the table above on 'quality' according to the percentage of 4*s as well as the percentage of 4* + 3*s. LSE is the institution with the greatest percentage of 4* research attributed to the academics submitted to the RAE.