QS World University Rankings 2024

QS World University Rankings

Globally recognised and produced by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education publisher, the QS World University Rankings is one of the most widely read and reputable university ranking systems.

It has consistently based its ranking methodology on key metrics including academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio and international student ratio. The 2024 QS rankings introduced 3 new metrics — international research network, employment outcomes and sustainability. All metrics contribute a percentage towards an institution’s final score.

The results come from the analysis of millions of academic papers, and expert opinions of over 240,000 academics and employers.

Academic reputation (30%)

Carrying the heaviest weightage, the academic reputation metric is based on a survey of faculty members, researchers, and professionals in academia from around the world, who nominate institutions based on academic excellence, research quality, impact and innovation.

Employer reputation (15%)

This metric evaluates the reputation of a university among employers, an indicator of employability of students. A survey sent to thousands of employers around the world collates their ratings of the best universities for producing relevant graduates.

Faculty/student ratio (10%)

QS looks at the ratio of faculty to students as an indicator of the learning and teaching environment in an institution. The more academic staff resource available to students, such as teaching and curriculum development, the better the experience expected.

Citations per faculty (20%)

To determine this metric, QS evaluates the number of academic citations in papers an institute produces, factoring in the size of the university, across a five-year period.

QS also performs a normalisation to keep the influence of research broadly equal for the different academic fields, considering that certain fields publish more papers than others.

International student ratio and international faculty ratio (5% each)

These metrics show how effective the institute is in attracting faculty members and students from all over the world. With a sizeable number of international faculty and students, an institution would offer a multicultural environment and benefits from diversity, networking and cultural exchanges.

International Research Network (5%)

Introduced in 2024, this metric is an indicator of the quality of an institution’s research partnerships and collaborations on the international stage.

Employment outcomes (5%)

Another indicator of employability, this metric measures an institution’s graduate employment rate and alumni impact.

Sustainability (5%)

Recognising the importance of social and climate issues to students, QS became the first among the major world rankings in 2024 to include sustainability as a key metric. It evaluates social and environmental impact, with governance factored in.

Below, we’ve compiled the top universities in each destination - Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the UK and the USA. If you’re keen to find out about studying abroad in any of these countries, have a chat with one of our friendly counsellors!

QS top 10 universities in Australia 2024

Rank	University	Global rank
1.	The University of Melbourne	14
2=	The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)	19
2=	The University of Sydney	19
4.	Australian National University (ANU)	34
5.	Monash University	42
6.	The University of Queensland	43
7.	The University of Western Australia	72
8.	The University of Adelaide	89
9.	University of Technology Sydney	90
10.	Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)	130

QS top universities in New Zealand 2024

Rank	University	Global rank
1.	University of Auckland	68
2.	University of Otago	206
3.	Massey University	239
4.	Victoria University of Wellington	241
5.	University of Waikato	250
6.	University of Canterbury \| Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha	256
7.	Lincoln University	362
8.	Auckland University of Technology (AUT)	407

QS top 10 universities in Canada 2024

Rank	University	Global rank
1.	University of Toronto	21
2.	McGill University	30
3.	University of British Columbia	34
4.	University of Alberta	111
5.	University of Waterloo	112
6.	Western University	114
7.	Université de Montréal	141
8.	University of Calgary	182
9.	McMaster University	189
10.	University of Ottawa	203

QS top 10 universities in the UK 2024

Rank	University	Global rank
1.	University of Cambridge	2
2.	University of Oxford	3
3.	Imperial College London	6
4.	UCL	9
5.	The University of Edinburgh	22
6.	The University of Manchester	32
7.	King’s College London	40
8.	The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	45
9.	University of Bristol	55
10.	The University of Warwick	67

QS top universities in Ireland 2024

Rank	University	Global rank
1.	Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin	81
2.	University College Dublin	171
3.	University of Galway (previously National University of Ireland Galway)	289
4.	University College Cork	292
5.	University of Limerick	426
6.	Dublin City University	436
7.	Maynooth University	801–850
8.	Technological University Dublin	851–900

QS top 10 universities in USA 2024

Rank	University	Global rank
1.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	1
2.	Harvard University	3
3.	Stanford University	5
4.	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	10
5.	University of Chicago	11
6.	University of Pennsylvania	12
7.	Cornell University	13
8.	California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	15
9.	Yale University	16
10.	Princeton University	17

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