QS World University Rankings: Europe 2026 released on 28 January 2026

Key facts

• QS World University Rankings: Europe 2026 was released on 28 January 2026.
• University of Oxford (UK) tops the ranking, overtaking ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and Imperial College London (UK).
• Seven of the top 10 universities are UK institutions.
• Over 950 institutions from 42 countries and territories are ranked using 12 performance indicators.
• City St George’s, University of London is the highest-ranked new entrant at 127th place.
• Denmark records the highest average score in seven of the twelve indicators among locations with five or more ranked institutions.
• Ireland is the most improved location, with 87.5% of its ranked universities moving up.
• Western Europe is the most represented sub-region with 227 ranked institutions.
• Istanbul is the most represented metropolitan area with 29 ranked universities.
• Baku Engineering University improved the most, rising 96 places to =395.
• University of Oxford leads the Employer Reputation indicator, followed by University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.
• University of Oxford also tops the Employment Outcomes indicator, followed by University of Cambridge and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).