 | |
 No. 2,048 (3–9 May 2012) | |
| Categories | Higher education |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Fortnightly |
| First issue | October 15, 1971; 54 years ago (1971-10-15) (asTimes Higher Education Supplement) |
| Company | Inflexion Pvt. Equity Partners LLP |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Website | timeshighereducation |
| ISSN | 0049-3929 |
Times Higher Education (THE), formerlyThe Times Higher Education Supplement (The THES), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education from Charterhouse in a £400 million deal in July 2013 and rebranded TSL Education, of whichTimes Higher Education was a part, as TES Global. The acquisition by TPG marked the third change of ownership in less than a decade for Times Higher Education, which was previously owned byNews International before being acquired by Exponent Private Equity in 2005.[1]
In March 2019, private equity group Inflexion Pvt. Equity Partners LLP acquiredTimes Higher Education fromTPG Capital, becoming THE's fourth owners in 15 years.[2] Following the acquisition by the private equity group,Times Higher Education was carved out as an independent entity from TES Global. The investment was made by Inflexion's dedicated mid-market buyout funds.[3]
The exclusive advisor for the acquisition by Inflexion was Houlihan Lokey, an investment company which has previously assisted several private equity groups acquirefor-profit educational organisations. Post-acquisition, Houlihan Lokey noted that the existingTimes Higher Education team will work to meet the demand for data and branding products, and look at cross-selling to existing clients.[4]
From its first issue, on 15 October 1971, until 2008,The Times Higher Education Supplement (The Thes) was published weekly in newspaper format and was born out of its sister paper, theTimes Educational Supplement (TES) and affiliated withThe Times newspaper.
Its founding editor,Brian MacArthur, recruited a team of talented young reporters to chart the expanding higher education sector, includingPeter Hennessy (now Lord Hennessy),David Henke, David Walker,Christopher Hitchens, andPeter Scott, who was appointed editor in 1976. Scott remained editor until 1992, leading a team of journalists that includedRobin McKie,John O'Leary (who would later return as editor after a period atThe Times), andPeter David. Other staff reporters in this period included Ngaio Crequer[5] andJudith Judd.Brian Morton,Lynne Truss andOlga Wojtas have established careers as writers.
In the 1980s,The Thes pioneered comparisons of the reputations of university departments through peer review conducted by consulting academics in the field under scrutiny. Managed by O'Leary, this become the foundation for the league table of United Kingdom universities that was launched under his stewardship as Education Editor ofThe Times.
The Thes was a supporter of the then "binary divide" between the established universities and the polytechnics and the links between the latter and the local education authorities, which ended with theFurther and Higher Education Act 1992.
The magazine featured a fictional satirical column written byLaurie Taylor, the "Poppletonian", which reflects on life at the fictional Poppleton University.[6]
Under Scott's editorship, it stood apart from other titles in Rupert Murdoch's News International in endorsing the Labour Party at successive General Elections.
In 1992 Scott left for academe and was replaced byAuriol Stevens, who was editor until 2002. Under her editorshipThe Thes strongly supported the case for undergraduate students to contribute to their higher education throughtuition fees.
The Thes was the first of Rupert Murdoch's UK titles to put its text, archive and job ads on line, although the text was at that time behind a subscription wall. Stevens described the move as the "Murdoch empire's canary in the coal mine".[7]
With its elder sister publication, the Times Educational Supplement, it was acquired by venture capital groupExponent in October 2005 for £205m.
On 10 January 2008, it was relaunched as a magazine, published by TES Global. The magazine is edited by John Gill. Phil Baty is theeditor-at-large, and is responsible for international coverage. He is also the editor of the magazine's World University Rankings.
In 2011,Times Higher Education was awarded the titles of "Weekly Business Magazine of the Year" and "Media Business Brand of the Year" by theProfessional Publishers Association.[8]
In 2019, it was widely rumoured thatElsevier, who already partners withTHE in order to compile their university rankings,[9] was planning to take overTimes Higher Education completely.[10]
In August 2020,Times Higher Education announced partnerships with recruitment agency SI-UK and accommodation provider Casita, signalling its entry into the overseas student recruitment and student housing markets.[11]
On 11 September 2020, Netherlands-basedStudyportals announced that it had inked an agreement withTimes Higher Education, which will see the Times Higher Education website's student visitors directed to the Studyportals student recruitment platform whenever students look into courses run by universities thatTHE ranks in its World University Rankings.[12]
In 2022,Times Higher Education acquired theInside Higher Education, an online higher-ed publication company from Quad Partners, aprivate equity firm.[13]
In 2023, it acquiredPoets&Quants, an American graduate business education website.[14]
In 2024, they signed an agreement with the country of Hungary's Culture and Innovation Ministry which oversees Hungarian higher education for THE to "give an accent to Hungary’s higher education excellence at an international level." State secretaryBalázs Hankó, who oversees higher education, said "the goal was to have a Hungarian university among the world’s 100 best by 2030, and at least three among Europe’s top 100."[15]
Times Higher Education became known for publishing the annualTimes Higher Education–QS World University Rankings, which first appeared in November 2004. On 30 October 2009Times Higher Education broke withQuacquarelli Symonds, then its partner in compiling the Rankings, and signed an agreement withThomson Reuters to provide the data instead.[16] The magazine developed a new methodology in consultation with its readers and itseditorial board and the results were published annually from autumn 2010 to 2013, whenTHE signed a new deal withElsevier.[9]
As well as its THE World University Rankings,Times Higher Education also publishes a number of other rankings:[17]
| Launch year | Ranking |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Impact Rankings |
| 2017 | Japan University Rankings |
| 2017 | WSJ/THE College Rankings |
| 2016 | Latin America University Rankings |
| 2014 | Emerging Economies University Rankings |
| 2013 | Asia University Rankings |
| 2012 | Young University Rankings |
| 2011 | World Reputation Rankings |
| 2011 | World University Rankings |
Times Higher Education runs a series of summits, forums and symposiums throughout the year. Chaired byTHE's editorial journalists, these events bring together global leaders and influencers from across academic, government and industry to debate, discuss and drive forward the future of higher education governance, innovation and research.[18]
The magazine runs two sets of awards annually, the "Times Higher Education Awards", launched in 2007, and the "Times Higher Education Awards Asia", launched in 2019. The "Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards" (Thelmas) ran from 2011 to 2018.[citation needed].[19]
| Year | University |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Ulster University |
| 2023 | Anglia Ruskin University |
| 2022 | University of Northumbria |
| 2021 | Cardiff Metropolitan University |
| 2020 | University of Glasgow |
| 2019 | University of Strathclyde |
| 2018 | University of Essex |
| 2017 | Nottingham Trent University |
| 2016 | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
| 2015 | Coventry University |
| 2014 | Edge Hill University |
| 2013 | University of Huddersfield |
| 2012 | University of Strathclyde |
| 2011 | University of Sheffield |
| 2010 | University of York |
| 2009 | Teesside University |
| 2008 | University of Leicester |
| 2007 | Exeter University |
