Do University Rankings Show Which Universities Teach Better?

Abstract

University rankings combine research performance with evidence about resources, student experience and educational outcomes, and their results can be read as statements about teaching. This conceptual article asks whether such results can show which universities teach better. Drawing on argument-based validation, it proposes a claim record that links each educational statement to its evidence and applies three checks: whether the evidence addresses the stated construct, whether its scope supports the population and any comparison implied, and whether the design supports the strength of the inference. Each statement is retained or withheld, and any narrower version must pass all three checks before reporting. The procedure is applied to seven documented indicators from the Times Higher Education (THE) and QS rankings, to three stipulated cases and, as illustrations, to two documented public statements: one describing a Teaching Excellence Framework Gold rating and one describing a ranking’s teaching-pillar score. Research indicators, resources and reputation support useful descriptions but do not, without additional evidence, establish learning outcomes or institutional contribution. The ranking indicators examined therefore cannot show that one institution produces more undergraduate learning than another. Keeping the meaning and evidence of research and educational results separately inspectable is necessary but not sufficient; educational comparison also requires wording bounded to the evidence, evidence at the level of the claim made, and explicit uncertainty. Users may still weight results by their own priorities, provided the resulting decision score is not presented as demonstrated teaching effectiveness. The framework’s practical effects remain to be tested empirically.

Keywords: university rankings; teaching effectiveness; research assessment; learning gains; argument-based validation; composite indicators; Teaching Excellence Framework