The Indians might -- and indeed are close now -- but the Chinese, never.

Maynard, Oxford, UK

As a Chinese, I don't think universities in Asia could be ranked on a par with their counterparts in the West, at least in the foreseeable future. However, one thing that Chinese university could outperform universities in Europe is the number of students they enroll every year. Take the city I live for example, in Shanghai now 2 out of 3 high school students could go to universities, be top or bottom. As for the research output and teaching quality, Chinese education system has a long way to go.

Hai, Shanghai, China

1) Invest more money in scientific research and tech (not cut it by millions every year and rely on big business to fill the gap - which they will not do as they will just relocate)

2) stop this non-sense that half of all british school leavers should go to university. if they are bright enough they will make it. at the moment all this is doing is bringing down the level of teaching as class sizes are flooded with people, three quaters of who will not graduare and end up in debt to an overloaded student loans company. The numbers of people actually attending university are missleading anyway. The number af students taking up courses such as political history or media studies FAR outstrippes the demand and most of these ciurses and these students will end up working in coffee houses.

Open trade schools again to boost the number of skilled workers.

do this and the problems will be solved.

dave, glasgow, scotland

What Martin Read says is true that Britain is having dificulties competing with India & China. They are also cheaper alternatives when looking at the pound rates.

What Martin had not mentioned is that many big British companies such as LogicaCMG have moved into the realms of outsourcing to India for the very same reason...better & CHEAPER alternatives ....In this instance, bottom line figures are seen as much more important then hiring more expensive home-grown science, technology and maths graduates.

Money matters above education here ...and it does not help home-grown graduates...

Ryan, Manila ,

The British Government has mis-managed education since the late 1970's, if not earlier. Unfortunately a worsening education system brings less competent people into government, so the process becomes a vicious circle where positive feedback accentuates past problems, until a British education is little more than cramming for an exam that tests the teachers ability to cram pupils for exams.
Fortunately Britain has a culture in which creativity and the arts are highly valued, particularly the creation of fiction, so the shortcomings of the education system have been disguised by a growing body of fiction. Unfortunately it is becoming less and less possible to achieve the suspension of disbelief.
Now the EU wants to join in, if they do, I would suggest that a certain minimum criteria be established, for example a doctorate level of education for anyone who is in a position to influence policy, having children in state schools might be a meaningful

Kidd Garrett, Bristol, UK

David Williams, I assume someone else paid for your education at Bath. I, on the other hand, had to work my way through. And there's nothing that I learned in getting my BS in physics from a brick-and-mortar school that I couldn't have learned just as well or better from an online Uni. I'm glad you enjoyed your time at Bath, but most people out here in the real world can't afford a 4 year uni holiday.

Paul W., Silicon Valley, California, USA

why?

Tong Wang, Lan Zhou, China

good

Tong Wang, Lan Zhou, China

The best Chinese Universities are already the hardest universities to get into in the world. You need to beat tens of thousands harding working students to get into Tsinghua. British universities are easier to get into because there are not that many competitors for a place.
European Universities are strong at research though.

Tong Wang, Lan Zhou, China

Paul, 5 years ago my lecturer at Bath university was suggested exactly the same; online teaching as the solution to the funding/access to all debate. I disagree, it will always be no more than a niche in my opinion. We go to uni for so much more than just lecturers. The cynical will say "yes, to drink and get laid" and they have a point but whichever way you look at it you develop as a person during those years. Sat in your parent's home looking at computer screen 7 hours a day will never replace that for most young people. And if you think Asia is any different, most Chinese student's I've met here say China is more following Japan's model where university is a 4 year sabbatical with 1 hour study a day before life properly begines in the workplace.

David Williams, Xian, China

"British universities maintain high standards and teach students to think for themselves,"

Not my experience as a recently minted LLB, having completed a BA(hons) and an MA at an Ivy league almost 20 years ago...

It was not about thinking but about memorising, even when there was no underlying theory to hold it together..."thinking" was activiely discouraged in class...it was all about what the examiner wanted to read in the exam...many students managed a 2.1 without understanding anything...they are the solicitors and barristers of tomorrow....

i pray that other areas of education are not so limited by the root seems to lie much deeper, pre-GSCE....

alannah, london,

Most education is going virtual over the next 20 years anyway. Everyone will be able to get their education online. The best courses taught by the best teachers, streamed to your computer. It won't matter where you live.

The old model where a live teacher "spoon feeds" 30 students in a classroom is about to die. It's too labor intensive, costly, inefficient, etc. The brick-and-mortar school will be only a memory, or a place where kids go to watch video lectures if their parents still need the school system to act in a day-care capacity.

Paul W., Silicon Valley, California, USA

This article is misleading with its stress on 'access'. This is taking over from quality as the New Labour mantra. Under the New Labour watch our universities are slipping down world rankings as standards are sacrificed for social engineering. Oxbridge has resisted attacks by Gordon Brown and his treasury report, 'the Lambert report' seeking to 'bring Oxbridge into line' with mediocrity. Brown will no doubt continue his efforts to weaken Oxbridge from his politics of resentment. Happily they have insisted on academic freedom and the criterion of excellence against Brown's socialistic assaults. Quality not quantity is the key to saving the best of our universities in world league tables.

Blackstone, Abingdon, UK

So basically the EU is going to make it impossible for the average person to afford an education without getting into debt. Thats all I am getting from this article.

John, London, UK

The European Commission is clearly looking for a role for itself in education so that it can meddle more. Its invariable pattern is: 1) publish alarmist research suggesting a threat from America/China/India, 2) suggest "more Europe" as the solution, 3) ignore opposing voices which show that "more Europe" would make things worse, 4) bully and bribe member states into passing whatever misconceived directive it wants. Expect a proposal for a Universities Directive within the next year or so.

PJ, London,

This is something that Europeans Government should take care about. If we don't continue maintaining our positioin , the new comers will , then we should follow them.

manssourou, Dubai, UAE

It hasbeen in thearticle that Indian universities are likely to
come up in the scale of better universities. I , as an India, am very much afraid that this may not happen, given the present political masters in India. The politicians in India are very much concerned with their vote bank. They want to garner all the votes of so called minorities among the population by giving them all needed encouragement in education and jobs. Their concerns are good but the implementation of their policies leaves a bad taste in one,s mouth. The means that they are contemplating to adopt are only aimed at levelling down the highest quality now available in India of the brains and talents. Most of the citizens who are highly educated, highly skilled and highly respected come from the so called forward communities in India. There is a very strong prejudice in India from the politicians against the upper castes based on the wrong impression that these upper castes are the bane.

Sanjeevi, Chnennai, India

There is a long long way to go if China's universities want to catch up with the European universities. The independence, creative and sense of responsibility of China's universities is fading away, and what is worse that we don't see any shift!

Yiming Shi, Guangzhou, China