Golden triangle (universities)

The golden triangle is the triangle formed by the university cities of Cambridge, London, and Oxford in the south east of England in the United Kingdom.[note 1] The triangle is occasionally referred to as the Loxbridge triangle,[7][8] a portmanteau of London and Oxbridge or, when limited to five members, the G5.[9][10][11][12]

The cities located in the south east of England which are host to the university members of the 'golden triangle'.

The list of universities considered to be members of the golden triangle varies between sources, but typically comprises the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, King's College London, the London School of Economics and University College London.[13][note 2] Some sources omit either or both of King's College London[note 3] and the London School of Economics;[note 4] while occasionally other universities are included, e.g. the London Business School and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,[24] or all of the higher education institutions in the three cities.[25]

Members

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The universities typically considered members of the golden triangle possess some of the largest UK university financial endowments; endowment sizes range from UCL's £158.8 million[26] to Oxford's £7.678 billion (including colleges).[27] Further, each university receives millions of pounds in research fundings and other grants from the UK government, criticised by leaders of some other universities as disproportionate and not in the best interests of the country as a whole.[28] In 2013/14, universities in Oxford, Cambridge and London received 46% of research funding in the UK, up from 42.6% a decade earlier.[29]

Institution Location Enrolment (2021/22) Endowment
(£millions, 2022)
Academic
staff
(2021/22)[30]
Motto
Under-
graduates[31]
Post-
graduates[31]
Total[31]
University of Cambridge Cambridge 13,645 8,960 22,610 7,121 ‡ (2019)[34] 6,130 Hinc lucem et pocula sacra
(From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge)
Imperial College London London 11,740 9,730 21,470 219.6 [35] 4,440 Scientia imperii decus et tutamen
(Knowledge is the adornment and protection of the Empire)
King's College London London 23,225 18,270 41,490 291.1 [36] 5,715 Sancte et Sapienter
(With Holiness and Wisdom)
London School of Economics London 5,575 7,400 12,975 229.4 [37] 1,830 Rerum cognoscere causas
(To Know the Causes of Things)
University of Oxford Oxford 15,685 11,610 27,290 7,678 ‡[39] 6,945 Dominus Illuminatio Mea
(The Lord is my Light)
University College London London 23,800 23,030 46,830 158.8 [26] 9,585 Cuncti adsint meritaeque expectent praemia palmae
(Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward)

‡ Including colleges

Research income

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With the exception of the LSE, the five other institutions typically considered members of the golden triangle have among the highest research incomes of all British universities, ranking in the top seven of British universities by research grant and contract income (along with Manchester and Edinburgh) and in the top six of English universities by Research England recurrent funding (along with Manchester). These five institutions all have significant fractions of their research grant and contract income from clinical medicine, varying (in 2021/22) from 41.7% (Cambridge) to 63.6% (King's College London), compared to an average across the UK of 34.4%. Overall, 50.9% of the 2020/21 research grant and contract income of the five institutions (50.0% if the LSE is included) came from clinical medicine research, and they accounted for 34.7% of all research grant and contract income of UK universities in 2020/21 (35.2% if the LSE is included).[40]

Following the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the golden triangle universities saw a fall in their share of Quality Research funding (recurring funding based on the REF results rather than grants or other sources) from Research England. Analysis by Times Higher Education showed that the share of funding going to the golden triangle (not including the LSE in this analysis) fell from 35.36 per cent in 2020/21 under the previous REF to 33.05 per cent in 2021/22, although the actual funding the institutions received increased due to an overall increase in funding levels and the five universities remained (with Manchester) the top six institutions by share of funding. The LSE saw a decrease in actual funding of 9.03 per cent, leading to a 0.28 percentage point fall in its share of funding to 0.85 per cent, placing it below the post-92 Northumbria University.[41]

In 2004, the G5 universities consisting of Cambridge, Imperial, LSE, Oxford and UCL were accused of secretly coordinating bids for an increased share of any extra money made available in the government's summer 2004 spending review. The objective was to secure extra state funding above the £3,000 student top-up fees planned in England from 2006 to cover the full costs of home and European Union undergraduates on their courses. This has been attributed to the universities stating they are offering no cheap courses, and that they would have to reduce their intake of UK students without the additional income.[12]

The balance of funding between the 'golden triangle' and the rest of the UK has been questioned, and was specifically included in the terms of reference for an enquiry in 2018 by the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee.[42] According to defenders of the level of funding going to the golden triangle institutions, "The apparent concentration of research in the golden triangle is little more than a reflection of the distribution of people in the UK".[43] Analysis of grant proposals to Research Councils UK between 2012–13 and 2016–17 has shown that golden triangle institutions do not have unusually high success rates (two are actually below the expected range), but that the northern universities of Durham, Lancaster and York do.[44] In February 2022, the UK Government announced as part of its "Levelling Up" white paper that public investment outside of the south east would increase by 40% by 2030, despite warnings from leaders of research-intensive universities that this could reduce the importance of scientific excellence in funding decisions.[45] A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute in 2024 found that research quality was no higher in the golden triangle than elsewhere, concluding that the higher funding levels in the golden triangle "may reflect a retained and somewhat toxic historical and cultural bias towards particular institutions", with lower levels of research activity outside of the southeast reflecting lower levels of investment.[46]

Recurrent Quality Research funding from Research England for golden triangle universities (out of English universities, year 2022/23)[41]
Rank University QR funding (£m) QR funding share (%)
1 University of Oxford 164.2 8.32
2 University College London 159.2 8.06
3 University of Cambridge 141.5 7.78
4 Imperial College London 106.5 5.45
6 King's College London 81.2 4.11
31 London School of Economics 16.8 0.85
Research grant and contract income (excluding recurring Quality Research funding from funding councils) for golden triangle universities (out of British universities, year 2020/21)
Rank[40] University Research income
Total (£m)[40] Clinical medicine Total as
proportion of
total income
(%)[47]
(£m)[40] As proportion of
total research
income (%)[40]
1 University of Oxford 653.3 363.5 55.6% 26.9%
2 University of Cambridge 588.6 245.4 41.7% 27.0%
3 University College London 476.9 256.9 53.9% 29.6%
4 Imperial College London 363.0 169.8 46.8% 33.6%
7 King's College London 187.9 119.5 63.6% 18.8%
41 London School of Economics 34.9 0.0 0.0% 8.8%

Academics

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Admissions

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UCAS Admissions Statistics (2023)
Applications[48] Offer Rate (%)[49] Accepted[48] Average Entry Tariff (2021)[50]
Cambridge 21,940 24.4% 3,565 209
Imperial 30,725 33.1% 3,135 206
King's 69,300 38.5% 6,810 171
LSE 26,240 20.6% 1,815 195
Oxford 24,230 19.7% 3,260 205
UCL 77,615 27.0% 7,595 190

The golden triangle universities are highly selective, with entrance typically requiring strong performances in standardised exams as represented by the average scores of new entrants when converted to UCAS points. Five of the golden triangle universities were in the top ten by entry standards for 2021–22, with King's coming in 19th.[50] The universities also make up six of the eight British universities by lowest offer rates (the others being 4th-placed St Andrews and 7th-placed Edinburgh). For the 2022 undergraduate admissions cycle, all of the universities reported offer rates, including conditional and unconditional offers, below 40%.[51]

Rankings and reputation

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Golden triangle universities generally do well on international rankings, which strongly reflect research performance. Some global rankings, such as those produced by Times Higher Education (THE) and QS, correct for the sizes of institutions in calculating their results but others, such as the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), make no such adjustment.[52][53] The Golden Triangle universities generally do well on British university league tables, with Cambridge and Oxford consistently in the top three, and Imperial, LSE and UCL ranked in the top ten by all compilers. King's College London, however, fails to make the top ten in any of the major rankings.

University ARWU
2024
(Global)[54]
QS
2025
(Global)[55]
THE
2025
(Global)[56]
Complete
2025
(National)[57]
Guardian
2025
(National)[58]
Times/Sunday Times
2025
(National)[59]
University of Cambridge 4 5 5 1 3 4
Imperial College London 25 2 9 5 5 6
King's College London 53 40= 36= 24 28 24=
London School of Economics 151–200 50= 50= 3 4 1
University of Oxford 6 3 1 2 1 3
University College London 15 9 22= 9 9 7

Student demographics

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Social class

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Students from private education are over-represented at the six institutions. With the exception of King's, the remaining universities reported over 30% of their UK-domiciled student body in 2020-21 composed of private school students. This places the universities among the nine highest UK providers with more than 10,000 students for the proportion of private school students with Imperial in 5th at 32.4% (behind Durham, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Exeter) followed by UCL (32.4%), Oxford (31.4%), LSE (30.4%) and Cambridge (30.0%).[60] Nationally, around 6% of school-aged pupils attend education in the private sector, although this figure increases to 18% for pupils aged 16–19 in England.[61]

Domicile and ethnic background

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Among mainstream British higher education institutions, the LSE had the highest proportion of non-UK students in 2022–23 at 65.1% (followed by University of the Arts London), UCL in third at 54.3% and Imperial at fourth at 51.7%.[62]

Domicile and ethnic background (2022/23)[62][63]
University British White[a] British Asian Black British British
Mixed Heritage
Other/
not known
International
EU Non-EU
Cambridge 46.4% 10.6% 2.8% 5.1% 3.4% 7.8% 24%
Imperial 20.9% 16.6% 2.5% 3.4% 4.8% 11.4% 40.3%
King's 28.1% 17.9% 6.2% 4.2% 4.6% 7.8% 31.2%
LSE 15.2% 11.8% 2.4% 3.2% 2.4% 13.4% 51.8%
Oxford 46.9% 7.4% 2.2% 4.5% 3.9% 8.6% 26.5%
UCL 23.0% 12.4% 3.0% 3.4% 3.9% 8.1% 46.2%
England[64] 81.0% 9.6% 4.2% 3.0% 2.2%
82.6% 6.3% 11.1%
  1. ^ Not to be confused with solely White British
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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Multiple sources state the golden triangle is formed around Oxford, Cambridge and London.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
  2. ^ Multiple sources confirm the membership, although some omit either King's or LSE, as noted under their entries.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
  3. ^ King's College London is not included by[8][15][16][19][20][22][23]
  4. ^ LSE is not included by[14][19][20][22]

References

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  1. ^ "Oxbridge windfall". Times Higher Education. 4 August 1995. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2009. A large amount of the cash awarded to humanities postgraduates still goes to the "Golden Triangle" of Oxford, Cambridge and London, British Academy figures reveal.
  2. ^ Kershaw, Alison (4 October 2012). "UK universities slip in rankings". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017. Rankings editor Phil Baty said: "Outside the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, England's world-class universities face a collapse into global mediocrity.
  3. ^ Andrew Ward (25 June 2015). "Johnson floats £10bn biotech fund for London". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2015. MedCity was launched last year to increase collaboration between Imperial College, King's College and University College London – the capital's three main science universities – and promote the broader 'golden triangle' between London, Cambridge and Oxford to investors.
  4. ^ Rebecca Marriage (11 March 2015). "UK confirmed as 'global education superpower' in international university rankings". ReLocate Global. Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015. The 'golden triangle' of Oxford, Cambridge and London strengthened its grip on UK higher education: As well as Cambridge and Oxford rising closer to the summit, University College London moved up from 25th to 17th, the London School of Economics rose two places to 22nd and King's College London jumped eight places from 43rd to 31st.
  5. ^ Mullins, Justin (23 April 2005). "England's golden triangle". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2017. Take a look at any of the various league tables ranking universities around the world ... Oxford and Cambridge are in the top handful, while London's University College and Imperial College sit comfortably in the top 25. ... London, Oxford and Cambridge are a 'golden triangle' of academic success.
  6. ^ Wiggins, Kaye (11 March 2015). "The World Reputation Rankings: UK's university 'golden triangle' strengthens grip". Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2015. The "golden triangle" of Oxford, Cambridge and London has strengthened its grip on the UK's higher education system, according to the latest global reputation rankings from TES's sister title Times Higher Education.
  7. ^ Neuman, Michael (2018). "The Loxbridge Triangle: Integrating the East-West Arch into the London Mega-region". talks.cam.ac.uk. University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  8. ^ a b Morgan, K. J. (2004). "The research assessment exercise in English universities, 2001". Higher Education. 48 (4): 461–482. doi:10.1023/B:HIGH.0000046717.11717.06. JSTOR 4151567. S2CID 145505001.
  9. ^ Murphy, Peter; Peters, Michael A.; Marginson, Simon (2010). Imagination: three models of imagination in the age of the knowledge economy. New York: Peter Lang. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4331-0529-6. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  10. ^ Albornoz, Orlando (2006). La universidad latinoamericana entre Davos y Porto Alegre: error de origen, error de proceso. El Nacional. p. 86. ISBN 980-388-266-X. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  11. ^ "President and Provost of UCL Visited SARI". Shanghai Advanced Research Institute. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Super elite in secret bid for cash boost". Times Higher Education. 6 February 2004. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  13. ^ Mike Savage (5 November 2015). Social Class in the 21st Century. Penguin. p. 167. ISBN 9780141978925. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2017. Higher education researchers often talk about a 'Golden Triangle' of universities. The 'triangle' describes an imaginary three-sided shape with corners in Oxford, Cambridge and London. The exact composition of the London 'corner' can vary, but typically it includes the London School of Economics, King's College London, University College London and Imperial College London.
  14. ^ a b "Golden opportunities". Nature. 6 July 2005. Archived from the original on 17 November 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010. No longer rivals, Oxford, Cambridge and London are now working towards a common goal – ensuring the 'golden triangle' becomes a global science hub. (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, King's and Imperial)
  15. ^ a b Zoe Corbyn (26 November 2009). "In research, small is just as beautiful". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012. The findings reveal the full extent of the dominance of the golden triangle: papers from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, Imperial College London, and the London School of Economics were cited far more often than the world average (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and LSE)
  16. ^ a b "'Golden triangle' to win funding riches". Times Higher Education. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012. The other institutions in the Cambridge-Oxford-London 'golden triangle' – University College London, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics – will also receive big cash windfalls, as will the University of Manchester. (names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and LSE)
  17. ^ Sean Coughlan (3 October 2013). "London top city in global university rankings". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018. The so-called 'golden triangle' of UK universities – Oxford, Cambridge and leading London institutions – is seen as a breakaway elite group, with these universities consolidating their international reputations. Imperial College, University College London, LSE and King's College London are all in the top 40. (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, King's, Imperial and LSE)
  18. ^ Miriam Frankel; Alison Goddard; Gretchen Ransow (18 December 2014). "Golden Triangle pulls ahead in REF shake-out: UCL and KCL ascend power rankings, Manchester and Leeds fall" (PDF). Research Fortnight. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2015. The top six universities in the so-called golden triangle—Oxford, UCL, Cambridge, Imperial, KCL and the London School of Economics and Political Science—have done particularly well in the Power Ratings. (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, King's, Imperial and LSE)
  19. ^ a b c Jha, Alok (3 June 2003). "Gold rush". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016. The golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge, University College London and Imperial College, show no sign of slowing down in their race away from the rest of the sector when it comes to research funding. (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial)
  20. ^ a b c OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation, North of England, UK. OECD. 2008. p. 222. ISBN 9789264048942. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2016. The "Golden Triangle" of ... the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial College and University College of London ... (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial)
  21. ^ Grant, Malcolm (1 March 2005). "The future of the University of London: a discussion paper from the Provost of UCL" (PDF): 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, King's, Imperial and LSE)
  22. ^ a b c Clark, Paul (1 March 2002). "The golden triangle holds the secret". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2012. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the four institutions comprising the 'golden triangle' – Cambridge, Imperial College, Oxford and University College London – elect not to receive their block Higher Education Funding Council for England grant for teaching. (Names Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial)
  23. ^ a b Jonathan Adams (5 June 2017). "We need to rethink research funding for UK regions to prosper". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019. "Currently, most R&D investment is concentrated in the south-east, London and the east, with the "golden triangle" universities of Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, Imperial College and the LSE taking over a quarter of the pot.
  24. ^ "World Reputation Rankings 2014 results: UK's 'golden triangle' accounts for 8 of the country's 10 representatives in top 100". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  25. ^ Geographic breakdown of public research and innovation expenditure (PDF) (Report). Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. June 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  26. ^ a b "Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2022" (PDF). University College London. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Aggregated Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 July 2022" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  28. ^ Rebecca Attwood (16 February 2007). "South secures research cash". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  29. ^ "Golden triangle increases share of research funding". Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  30. ^ "Who's working in HE?". www.hesa.ac.uk.
  31. ^ a b c "Where do HE students study? | HESA". www.hesa.ac.uk.
  32. ^ Colleges of the University of Cambridge
  33. ^ "REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT 2019" (PDF). University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  34. ^ Colleges £4,101.2M,[32] University £3,020.0M[33]
  35. ^ "Annual Report and Accounts 2021–22" (PDF). Imperial College London. Imperial College London. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Financial Statements for the year to 31 July 2022" (PDF). King's College London. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  37. ^ "Financial Statements for the Year to 31 July 2022" (PDF). London School of Economics. p. 30. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  38. ^ "Financial Statements 2021/22" (PDF). University of Oxford. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  39. ^ Colleges £6,418.4M,[27] University (consolidated) £1,259.1M[38]
  40. ^ a b c d e "Table 5 - Research grants and contracts - breakdown by source of income and HESA cost centre 2015/16 to 2020/21". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  41. ^ a b Tom Williams (4 August 2022). "Post-92s gain research funding at expense of 'golden triangle'". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  42. ^ "Balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending inquiry launched". House of Commons. 20 July 2018. Terms of Reference. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  43. ^ Sarah Chaytor and Graeme Reid (6 December 2018). "Cuts to the golden triangle could leave the UK in bad shape". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  44. ^ Alex Hulkes (27 September 2018). "Putting research in its place". ESRC. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  45. ^ Chris Havergal (2 February 2022). "UK regions promised research funding boost under 'levelling up'". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  46. ^ John Morgan (18 January 2024). "Golden triangle research 'no more golden than rest of UK'". Times Higher Education.
  47. ^ "Table 1 - Consolidated statement of comprehensive income and expenditure 2015/16 to 2020/21". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  48. ^ a b "UCAS Undergraduate Sector-Level End of Cycle Data Resources 2023". ucas.com. UCAS. December 2023. Show me... Domicile by Provider. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  49. ^ "2023 entry UCAS Undergraduate reports by sex, area background, and ethnic group". UCAS. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  50. ^ a b "University League Tables entry standards 2024". Complete University Guide. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  51. ^ "Cambridge to scrap 'unjust' state school _targets". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  52. ^ "LSE in university league tables". London School of Economics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  53. ^ Bahram Bekhradnia (15 December 2016). "International university rankings: For good or ill?" (PDF). Higher Education Policy Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  54. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2024". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. 15 August 2024.
  55. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. 4 June 2024.
  56. ^ "THE World University Rankings 2025". Times Higher Education. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  57. ^ "Complete University Guide 2025". The Complete University Guide. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  58. ^ "Guardian University Guide 2025". The Guardian. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  59. ^ "Good University Guide 2025". The Times. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  60. ^ "Widening participation: UK Performance Indicators 2020/21: Table T2a - Participation of under-represented groups in higher education". Higher Education Statistics Authority. hesa.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  61. ^ Green, Francis. "Private schools and inequality" (PDF). ifs.org.uk. ifs. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  62. ^ a b "Where do HE students study?: Students by HE provider". HESA. HE student enrolments by HE provider. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  63. ^ "Who's studying in HE?: Personal characteristics". HESA. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  64. ^ "Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
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