NUI Galway and Dublin City University have come out with top marks in a new European ranking measuring the international orientation of higher education institutions.

Five Irish universities and institutes of technology were assessed for the report card, along with more than 230 institutions worldwide. The remaining three institutions also performed strongly.

The survey by U-Multirank, a research agency part-funded by the European Commission, showed DCU and NUIG scored an A grade in all four performance indicators of international orientation. These related to teaching and learning, doctoral training, research and the composition of academic staff.

Ranking

University of Limerick got three As and a B; University College Cork got three As and a C; and Dublin Institute of Technology got two As and two Bs.

Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, Ireland's highest ranking universities in commercial league tables, opted to stay out of the study, which has been set up as a non-profit alternative to the likes of QS and Times Higher Education. Such firms have widely been accused of an "Anglo-American bias" in their league tables, and giving a narrow picture of quality based almost entirely on research and publishing reputation.

Only 27 institutions received four A grades. Ireland’s haul of two put it in joint fifth place with Switzerland and Sweden. France had six institutions with top marks, Austria had four, while Belgium and the Netherlands each had three. Only one institution in the Britain got top marks.

Prof Frank Ziegele, a researcher with the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education, who is one of the leaders on the U-Multirank project, said "this does not necessarily mean Ireland is better than the UK".

Rather, he said, it showed the performance of many European institutions was not properly represented in commercial league tables.