Not The Times' university rankings

The university rankings widely reported in Singapore -- in which the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University come out among the best in the world -- are not compiled by The Times of London. The Times Higher Education Supplement is owned by TSL Education which on its website describes itself as "a stand-alone business".

The company and the Supplement used to belong to News International, which publishes the Times. A Google search led to a Straits Times report in November 2004 which began with the words:

"The National University of Singapore (NUS) has beaten several reputable
institutions, including Cornell and Columbia in the United States, to emerge No.
18 in a Times of London ranking of the world's 200 best universities."

The reporter, Sandra Davie, was right. At that time, The Times Higher Education Supplement belonged to the same group as The Times.

But the Supplement and its publisher, TSL Education, changed hands in 2005. News International sold them to Exponent Private Equity in 2005 for 235 million pounds.

This was mentioned in the Guardian last week when it reported the Supplement's editor, John O'Leary, had resigned. He left "after a period of disagreements with the paper's owner over its future direction", said the Guardian. It added he was a former education editor of The Times. He was mentioned as the Supplement's editor in the Straits Times report in 2004.

In the Supplement's latest annual rankings, NUS was 19th last year, up from 22nd, and NTU 61st, down from 48th. This was reported by the Singapore media and mentioned by various ministers. The reports I saw correctly called them the Times Higher Education Supplement rankings -- but didn't say whether or not they had anything to do with The Times. Still, I guess they attract the same attention as the US News and World Report rankings of US colleges.

The Wikipedia says:

"The Times Higher Education Supplement, also known as The Times Higher or
The THES for short, is a newspaper based in London that reports
specifically on issues related to higher education. It is owned by TSL Education
which was, until October 2005, a division of News International ... The THES is
probably best known for publishing The Times Higher - QS World University
Rankings in partnership with QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd, which first
appeared in November 2004, with new rankings published annually."