The Lens
QS World University Rankings: Europe 2025
Institutions ranked
Countries
Newly ranked
In the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2025, 684 institutions have been ranked. This year, ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology takes the first spot from the University of Oxford.
Some of the key highlights include:
- ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology moves to 1, with Imperial College London moving to 2. Both overtake the University of Oxford.
- The biggest climber in the top 100 is Italy’s Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna moving up 30 ranks and into the top 50 at 48.
- The biggest fall in the top 100 is Cardiff University which moves down 17 places to 60.
- Both Technische Universität Dresden and Swansea University break into the top 100.
- Turkey has the second highest number of ranked institutions behind the United Kingdom with 72. None make the top 100, only 21 make the top 500, however of those 17 improved their rank this year.
- Spain also performs well overall with 33 institutions climbing the rankings with only 7 dropping.
- For countries with more than 10 institutions France and Germany had the highest proportion of downward movement.
- Spanish institutions are growing their reputation among employers with 86% improving their position in the Employer Reputation indicator this year, 29 by 10 places or more. Complutense University of Madrid breaks into the top 10 for Employment Outcomes moving up 14 places to 10. 81% of Spanish institutions move up in this indicator, with seven making the top 100.
- 26 French institutions dropped by more than 10 places, with the majority seeing sizeable drops in Citations per Paper and Papers per Faculty.
- The UK has 7 of the top 10 institutions in the Academic Reputation indicator and 27 of the top 100. University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and UCL hold the top three spots Europe wide.
- 13 institutions from Scandinavia feature in the top 100 for Sustainability with Sweden’s Lund University and Uppsala University coming in at 3 and 4 respectively.
- Belgian institutions perform well in International Research Network with both KU Leuven and Ghent University making the top 10.