Newcastle University outperformed Durham University on the first two metrics (ACP: 64.06 v 61.05, IEI: 55.98 v 54.27), but was 5 points behind on Global Engagement (GE: 81.71 v 89.63).
The TIME Magazine rankings (not related to either the similarly named Times Higher Education rankings or The Times newspaper rankings) focus on three separately weighted components to arrive at a total score. The first component, Academic Capacity and Performance (60% of score), considers the resources allocated to teaching and research as well as a university’s scholarly output. This is derived from metrics such as staff-to-student ratio, resource expenditure per student, and citation counts. The second component, Innovation and Economic Impact (30% of score), considers a university’s contributions to scientific advancement and the “diffusion of knowledge” as well as the economic impact of graduates. It includes analysis of corporate executives’ alma mater alongside a university’s web traffic volume and intellectual property. Finally, the third component, Global Engagement (10% of score), considers how attractive a university is to international students and how well their degrees are recognised abroad. This component derives from metrics relating to the proportion of international staff and students alongside the international traffic on university web domains. Newcastle University outperformed Durham University on the first two metrics (ACP: 64.06 v 61.05, IEI: 55.98 v 54.27), but was 5 points behind on Global Engagement (GE: 81.71 v 89.63). This points to the significance of the weighting in calculating the total scores (T: 63.4 v 61.88).
Many publishers produce their own versions of these lists and often prioritise different aspects and statistics with significantly differing results. When you consider Durham and Newcastle in prominent UK-produced tables, neither consistently outperforms the other. Consider the following: Times Higher Education (N: 144, D: 175), The Times newspaper (UK only. N: 34, D: 3), and the Guardian (UK only. N: 81, D: 5). Thus, it remains unclear which is truly the better university, although I’m sure the reader has their own ideas. However, given the international repute of TIME Magazine, this is a solid result for both universities.