Durham University has risen two places in the Times Higher Education world rankings, maintaining its place as a top 200 institution globally.

The university, based in Durham city, rose from 174th globally to 172nd as the rankings were announced on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the North East, Newcastle University had a successful year in the leaderboard, rising 11 places to joint 157th globally.

The UK as a whole has 25 universities in the top 200 of the Times Higher Education (THE) world rankings, the same number as last year.

However, experts have warned the reputation of the country's higher education sector is likely to "weaken" if funding does not improve.

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Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at THE, said: "While, overall, the picture of UK higher education in our rankings is positive, the sector is being battered by numerous prevailing winds.

"Chief amongst them is the extremely stretched finances it is facing and the restrictions on recruiting international students making it harder for them still, making it almost impossible to see how the sector can sustain its position in the coming years without significant help.

"The UK’s reputation amongst academics, while still very high, is likely to weaken further in future years if universities’ funding environment doesn’t improve, which can have worrying consequences for partnerships, investment and collaborations.

Of the UK universities in the top 200, 13 have improved their ranking, five stayed the same, and seven dropped by at least one place in the past 12 months.

Here is the list of the UK universities in the top 200 of the latest THE World University Rankings. Last year’s positions are in brackets, while '=' denotes joint position.

– 1 (1) University of Oxford

– 5 (5) University of Cambridge

– 9 (8) Imperial College London

– =22 (22) University College London

– 29 (=30) University of Edinburgh

– =36 (=38) King’s College London

– =50 (46) London School of Economics and Political Science

– =53 (51) University of Manchester

– 78 (81) University of Bristol

– =87 (=87) University of Glasgow

– =93 (101) University of Birmingham

– =98 (105) University of Sheffield

– 106 (=106) University of Warwick

– 115 (=97) University of Southampton

– 123 (129) University of Leeds

– =136 (=130) University of Nottingham

– =141 (135) Queen Mary, University of London

– =146 (147) University of York

– =157 (=168) Newcastle University

– =160 (=168) University of Liverpool

– =168 (=155) Lancaster University

– =172 (174) Durham University

– =172 (=177) University of Exeter

– =185 (=193) University of St Andrews

– =191 (201-250) University of Leicester