Old Report About Cambridge's Low Ranking Falsely Linked to Rahul Gandhi's Visit

This article about Cambridge slipping from sixth to seventh, its lowest rank, is from 2019.

A screenshot of the British daily The Guardian's article about the United Kingdom's Cambridge University's ranking falling at the 'lowest-ever place in the world university table' is going viral on social media.

What's the claim?: The viral posts are linking the report to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to the university, where he delivered a lecture on 28 February. He interacted with the MBA students and spoke about Indian democracy, protests in India, minorities among other issues.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here. We also received a query on our WhatsApp tipline.)

What's the truth?: Although the report about Cambridge's ranking slipping in the world university table is true, it is not linked to Gandhi's recent visit to the university.

• The article titled, "Cambridge slips to lowest-ever place in world university table" was published on 19 June 2019.

• The old article talks about how Cambridge slipped from sixth to seventh position, its lowest-ever, because of Brexit and the financial restraint which affected the research performances of the university.

• The report quoted Ben Sowter, QS’s director of research, as saying that the drop is not necessarily a sign of the institution struggling.

• According to the report, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) remained at the top spot for the eighth year, ahead of Stanford University at second, and Harvard University at the third position.

• The article clarified that the QS world rankings methodology was based on the reputation of the employer and academia, class sizes, research output, international staff and the number of students.

Rahul Gandhi's visit to Cambridge University: On a week-long visit to the UK, Gandhi visited the Cambridge university on 28 February 2023 to address a talk titled 'Learning to Listen in the 21st Century'.

• During his lecture, Gandhi attacked the central government alleging that several Indian politicians, including himself, were under surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

• He also accused the Centre of "attacking the basic structure of Indian democracy."

Conclusion: An old article about Cambridge University's rank falling down is being falsely linked to Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to the UK university.

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