Cambridge and Oxford are now the third and fourth best universities in the world respectively, according to international rankings published today, writes Jon Boone.

They dislodged Stanford and Berkely, two leading US institutions, with Oxford rising from fifth place in 2004 and Cambridge moving up from sixth. Harvard retained its position as the world's top institution with Massachusetts Institute of Technology second, according to The Times Higher Education Supplement, which compiled its list based on the views of more than 2,000 academics