Oxford University is the third best university in the world, new rankings have revealed.

The QS World University Rankings by the Times Higher Educational Supplement (THES) put American university Harvard in first place, followed by Cambridge and Oxford, which ranked second and third respectively.

Both universities, which were ranked third and fourth respectively last year, leapfrogged the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, which was second last year.

In all, there are 29 British universities in the list of the world's top 200 universities, up from 23 last year.

Dr John Hood, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, said: "Our place among the handful of truly world-class universities, despite the financial challenges we face, is testament to the quality and drive of the members of this university."

On Tuesday, Dr Hood said an increase in tuition fees from their current level of £3,000 a year was "inevitable".

The rankings were based on a survey for the THES of 3,703 academics worldwide, who were asked to identify up to 30 universities best for research within their own field of expertise.