51³Ô¹Ï

You say that the Academic Reputation Survey is based on the "considered, expert judgement of senior, published academics" ("Informed opinion at the heart of the matter", 51³Ô¹Ï World Reputation Rankings' supplement, 15 March). But Malcolm Gladwell, quoted in the same article, is probably correct when he observes that such an exercise is more likely to be a survey of prejudices.

In my university, periodic course reviews require a group of knowledgeable people to spend several days studying documents and interviewing staff and students before coming to a conclusion about the quality of a single course. It is hard to see how the majority of your respondents can have worthwhile insights about whole institutions - or even about teaching in a broad disciplinary field within them - when they may be thousands of miles away, with their primary academic experience gained in a quite different university culture.

Paul Temple, Co-director, Centre for Higher Education Studies, Institute of Education, University of London