QS World University Rankings 2026: Winners and Losers

QS recently released their annual global league table of universities, with some mixed results for UK institutions.

Many prospective students, particularly those from China and India, follow these rankings closely and are a significant influence on where they choose to study. Therefore, these rankings can have a huge impact on a university’s application volume and acceptance rate for the upcoming academic year, as well as the demographics of students who choose to study there.

For example, the UAE now requires Emirati students studying in the UK to enrol only in universities ranked in the top 200 globally, both overall and in their field of study, for their degrees to be officially recognised.

This can also lead to knock on effects for the student accommodation market in that location, meaning these rankings are well worth paying attention to.

The rankings are based on 10 metrics that fall into five categories: Research and Discovery, Learning Experience, Employability, Global Engagement and Sustainability. Here, we dive in to how the UK’s universities have fared in this year’s rankings, and how we stack up against the rest of the world.

Source: QS World Rankings

Starting with the UK’s high achievers, the four British universities in the global top 20 have had a mixed year. While Imperial College London has maintained its 2nd spot (1st is Massachusetts Institute of Technology), both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge have slipped a single rank to 4th and 6th, respectively. This continues the slight downward trend both have experienced in the last five years, at a time during which Imperial has been on an ever-upward trajectory. Meanwhile, University College London (UCL) has maintained its position in 9th for the third year running.

Source: QS World Rankings

Focusing on the performance of the Russell Group universities, the chart above shows how year-on-year performance has again been mixed. There are notable wins for the universities of Sheffield and Nottingham, which have both re-entered the top 100 with gains of 13 and 11 ranks respectively. This is great news for those institutions, and could also be music to the ears of PBSA operators who are facing challenging supply vs demand fundamentals in those locations. On the other end of the scale, Durham University’s drop by five ranks leaves them dangerously close to dropping out of the top 100.

Source: QS World Rankings

Looking at how a selected group of Russell Group universities have ranked since 2022, the above chart demonstrates how varied long-term performance has been. Universities of Liverpool and Birmingham have been on a near-constant rise, with Liverpool’s gain of over 40 ranks to a position of 147 particularly impressive. Also, Queen’s University Belfast’s progression has seen it edge into the top 200 for the first time since 2020. Meanwhile, Cardiff University, Durham University and LSE have all been generally trending down for the past five years.

Source: QS World Rankings

The above chart shows how the average ranking of a non-Russell Group institution has fluctuated over time, compared to the average Russell Group university. The Russell Group have been a steady performer overall, not gaining or losing much rank since 2022. The same can’t be said for the UK’s other institutions, which have fallen by an average of 60 places since their peak in 2024, where their average rank was 616.

Source: QS World Rankings

Comparing average ranking per country, we can see how the UK compares to the rest of the world. The average UK rank has dropped from 489 to 517 this year, with 61% of UK institutions taking a hit. The average UK university still comfortably outranks the USA, whose average ranking has been decreasing steadily for the past five years. However, the USA can boast of having double the UK’s number of entries in the global top 20, with 8.

Australia and Canada’s average ranks continue to improve, with Canada peeling away from the UK, where they were once very close. However, with both of these countries tightening rules around immigration and international student visas, it remains to be seen whether other nations' international student intake might benefit from this political uncertainty. The same can be said regarding the USA.

While it has been said over recent years that the improvement of universities in China and Hong Kong may mean more students staying at home rather than studying in the West, mainland China’s average rank is still a way off that of the UK’s, despite steady improvement since 2023. Even though Hong Kong’s 9 universities are clearly of high quality, the relatively small number of them and the large average decrease of over 100 places this year shouldn’t have UK universities and PBSA operators worried too much.

However, like the USA, Canada and Australia, political uncertainty regarding immigration and student visas could have a far more immediate and profound effect on international student numbers in the coming years. You can read more about this and more in the StuRents analysis pieces here.

For more information about our proprietary, highly granular data covering UK student accommodation, contact the StuRents Research team today. Book a demo of our Data Portal to find out how you can have up-to-the-minute university housing insights at your fingertips, or get in touch with us about our Occupancy Survey.