Times Higher Education has announced its list of best universities in Asia, and Singapore has come out on top for the second year in a row. 

The National University of Singapore (NUS) was recognized as the best university in Asia and is accompanied by one other Singaporean school, Nanyang Technological University.

NUS beat two Chinese schools, Peking University and Tsinghua University, which came in second and third, respectively.

“Asian universities can legitimately challenge the traditional Western elites of the US and the UK,” said Phil Baty, the editor of the Times Higher Education Rankings, as quoted by CNN, adding that the NUS had established itself as a role model in Asian higher education. 

(Read also: UI ranks 47th among Asian universities: uniRank)

Japan did not make the guide’s top five, but is still the most represented country, with 69 universities making up nearly a quarter of the rankings. Thailand is the most represented country in Southeast Asia, with 10 universities ranked.

While they did not make the top 10 list, the presence of Indian schools increased dramatically on the list of 300 schools, from 16 institutions to 33, and Pakistan more than tripled its representation from two schools to seven.

The London-based guide to further education ranks universities based on 13 different categories, like research performance and teaching environment.

Indonesia's Bandung Institute of Technology and University of Indonesia are lower on the list, ranking 201-250 and 250+, respectively. (sul/kes)