The UK only has five: Oxbridge, Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol. That said, for the size of the UK compared to US/China I guess it isn't too bad. I still feel

The UK only has five: Oxbridge, Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol. That said, for the size of the UK compared to US/China I guess it isn't too bad. I still feel the UK performed poorly. But from what I can tell of other European countries, the analysis is correct. It's another question to ask whether it's better to have a higher baseline of knowledge in a subject, or to have a group far, far above the rest. As most European countries are social democratic in orientation (the UK less so) I would guess the former is preferred.