TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN has fallen down the ranks in the world’s university rankings.

The Dublin institution has dropped 19 places to 129th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2013/2014.

There was better news for University College Dublin (UCD), however, as it climbed from 187th position to 161st.

They were the only two Irish third-level institutions to make the top 200.

NUI Galway was delighted to move up 22 places to 314th in the list. President Dr Jim Browne said it was notable achievement given cuts to funding and a simultaneous rise in student numbers.

“Despite this, our university has gone against the tide to secure a marked improvement in these very competitive rankings. This is a testament to our high standards in teaching and research, and an affirmation of our very focused approach to developing an international reputation in a select set of research areas,” he said in a statement.

University College Cork (UCC) also rose up the rankings to the #276-300 ranking slots.

The California Institute for Technology (Caltech) took the top position on the league table for the third year in a row, while Harvard and Oxford were joint second.

Stanford University were knocked off the podium and had to settle for the fourth slot.

MIT, Princeton, Cambridge, University of California Berkeley, University of Chicago and Imperial College London made up the rest of the Top 10. Yale University remained just out of the top 10 and landed in 11th place again.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are developed with rankings data provider, Thomson Reuters.

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