Global higher education leaders gathered in Birmingham to plan for a better future student experience at the Universitas21 General Meeting.

In the latest – and last – Universitas 21 annual report on national HE systems, the US has taken the number one spot for the ninth consecutive year. Switzerland, Denmark, Singapore and Sweden rounded off the top five.

Students from 16 U21 universities have competed for the RISE Awards for Impact, Innovation, and Potential – U21’s newest student opportunity.

A research student in Australia has won the Universitas 21 3MT competition for his work on a treatment that speeds up the healing process of burns victims. 

While the US has remained atop of U21's latest ranking of national higher education systems, other countries are beginning to challenge.

The top five countries are the US, Switzerland, the UK, Sweden and Denmark. The only change from 2017 is an inversion of Denmark and Sweden's positions.

The US has held on to the top spot in the Universitas 21 rankings, which measure the quality of higher education systems in countries around the world.

Former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has been announced as the recipient of the 2016 Gilbert Medal of Internationalisation, awarded by Universitas 21, which celebrates internationalisation in higher education.