UK universities outside of London and Oxbridge fall in world rankings Drop in league table represents a fall in teaching and research Britain has 31 institutions in the top 200, second only to the US Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London are all in the top 10 The "golden triangle" of Oxford, Cambridge and London is fast becoming Britain's last bastion of world-class education and research. The latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2013/14 show that overall the UK is holding its position, with 31 institutions in the top 200, more than any other country except the United States. But a number of institutions outside London and Oxbridge have dropped down the table, which is based on measures such as teaching, research and international outlook, which includes the number of overseas students and staff. Decline: Institutions in cities like Manchester, pictured, have seen standards in teaching and research drop The UK has three universities in the top ten - Oxford (equal 2nd), Cambridge (7th) and Imperial College London (10th). London also had four institutions in the top 40 - more than any other city in the world - but institutions in major cities such as Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Newcastle all slipped. Phil Baty, editor of the rankings, said this was a worry as they were "global brands" that acted as "flagships" for the UK. He added: 'On the whole, the UK has had a very stable year, with little overall change to its position behind the US as the world's second best higher education nation. Stable: Oxford University has maintained a high ranking in world university tables while other British institutions have fallen away 'This is good news after stark evidence of decline in last year's rankings.' Since last year, Nottingham has gone from from 120th to 157th, Southampton from 130th to 146th and Warwick from 124th to 141st. Top of this year's rankings was the California Institute of Technology, which was in first place for the third year running. The rest of the top 10 was made up of Oxford and Harvard in joint second place, Stanford University in fourth, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Imperial College London.