Imperial College London Strengthens its position as a major university of UK, both have improved both Oxford And Cambridge The second consecutive year in the global rankings.
QS Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking placed Imperial College London in second place globally, only behind Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, which maintained its top position.
Meanwhile, Oxford slipped from third to fourth place, and Cambridge fell from fifth to sixth position from 2026.
Overall, four British universities built the top 10 in the International League table, with University College London (UCL) Maintaining the ninth place.
However, 54 UK universities fell into the new rankings, released on Thursday, which included University of glassgow, University of manchester, University of warvik And this London School of Economics (LSE).
Some 11 UK universities maintained their position in the 2026 table, while 24 improved their position, as University of sheffield And this University of nottingham Returned to Global Top 100 on 92nd and 97th respectively.
QS Chief Executive Officer Jessica Turner said the UK government is “demanding reducing capital funds in a higher education system, which already maintains financial pressure, an international student introduces levy and lends the length of the graduate visa route from two years to 18 months”.
“It may accumulate under negative impact on higher education courses and width of research conducted across the country.
“While the UK government has recently kept research and development as a major part of the review of spending, universities across the country will need more support to carry forward their stability.
“At the same time, global contestants see their governments increasing investing in higher education and research, which gives international peers and in many cases, beating UK universities in the QS World University rankings.”
“The UK is one of the countries to dominate the QS World University rankings so far, but the country’s institutions are facing increased competition.
“A targeted approach by both government and individual institutions is necessary to ensure that higher education excellence is famous for the country, safe for the future, is necessary to provide productivity in the knowledge-based economy and to attract top global talent.”
