Top 100 Universities in the World 2026: ARWU, QS, THE Ranking

Top 100 Universities in the World 2026: ARWU, QS, THE Ranking

Edited By Prabhjyot Kaur | Updated on Jul 04, 2025 09:54 AM IST | #IELTS
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The QS World University Rankings 2026 has been released which includes over 1500 institutions from 105 countries worldwide. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, US has been ranked number 1 among the top universities in the world by QS World University Rankings 2026 for 14th year in a row. Students worldwide aspire to study at the top universities. One of the biggest deciding factor for selecting the top universities is the world university rankings as released by QS, Times Higher Education (THE) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Only QS has released the 2026 rankings; other ranking bodies such as THE have not released the rankings yet. THE World University Rankings 2025 features 2,092 universities across 108 countries and regions. The University of Oxford secured the first rank in THE World University Rankings 2025 for the 9th consecutive year. We have mentioned in detail the top 100 universities in the world for 2026 for international students. It also includes the methodologies, rankings, and which is the best university in the world after measuring across different aspects. A few of the countries that have primarily dominated the top 100 universities worldwide in 2026 include US, UK, etc. Read further for a comprehensive guide to the best universities in the world as per their rankings in 2026.

This Story also Contains
  1. Top 100 Universities in the World: QS 2026
  2. Major Highlights Of QS World University Rankings 2026
  3. QS World University Rankings Methodology 2026
  4. Top 10 Indian Universities as per QS WUR 2026
  5. QS Asia University Rankings 2025
  6. Subject Wise Top Universities in the World: QS WUR
  7. ARWU Ranking 2025
  8. Most Popular Courses in Top 100 Universities in the World 2026
  9. Admission Requirements for Top Universities in the World 2026
  10. Benefits of Studying in the World's Top 100 Universities
Top 100 Universities in the World 2026: ARWU, QS, THE Ranking
Top 100 Universities in the World 2026: ARWU, QS, THE Ranking

Top 100 Universities in the World: QS 2026

Here are the 100 top universities in the world for 2026 based on QS World University Rankings. Among the top 1,500 institutions listed by QS, the top 100 universities in the world for 2026 are provided below. We also have the QS WUR 2025 and 2024 of these educational institutions. Students can use these rankings to make academic decisions.

UniversityQS WUR 2026QS WUR 2025QS WUR 2024
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)111
Imperial College London222
Stanford University365
University of Oxford433
Harvard University544
University of Cambridge652
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology777
National University of Singapore (NUS)888
UCL999
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)101015
University of Hong Kong111726
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)121526
University of Chicago132111
Peking University141417
University of Pennsylvania151112
Cornell University161613
Tsinghua University172025
University of California, Berkeley171210
University of Melbourne191314
University of New South Wales (UNSW)201919
Yale University212316
EPFL222636
Technical University of Munich222837
Johns Hopkins University243228
Princeton University252217
University of Sydney251819
McGill University272930
Université PSL282424
University of Toronto292521
Fudan University303950
King's College London314040
Australian National University (ANU)323034
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)323647
University of Edinburgh342722
University of Manchester352732
Monash University363742
University of Tokyo363228
Columbia University383423
Seoul National University383841
University of British Columbia403834
Institut Polytechnique de Paris414638
Northwestern University425047
University of Queensland424043
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology444760
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor454433
Northwestern of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)464229
Delft University of Technology474947
Shanghai Jiao Tong University474551
Zhejiang University494744
Yonsei University505676
University of Bristol515455
Carnegie Mellon University525852
University of Amsterdam535553
Hong Kong Polytechnic University545765
New York University (NYU)554338
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)565045
Kyoto University575046
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München585954
Universiti Malaya (UM)586065
KU Leuven606361
Korea University616779
Duke University626157
City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)636270
National Taiwan University (NTU)636869
University of Auckland656568
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)667262
KFUPM6767101
University of Texas at Austin686658
Brown University697973
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign706964
Université Paris-Saclay707371
Land University727585
Sorbonne University726359
University of Warwick746967
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin758781
University of Birmingham768084
University of Western Australia777772
KTH Royal Institute of Technology787473
University of Glasgow797876
Universität Heidelberg808487
University of Washington817663
Adelaide University828289
Pennsylvania State University828983
Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)847195
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech)858491
University of Leeds868275
University of Southampton878081
Boston University8810893
Freie Universitaet Berlin889798
Purdue University888999
Osaka University918680
The University of Sheffield92105104
Uppsala University93103105
Durham University948978
University of Alberta9496111
University of Technology Sydney968890
University of Nottingham97108100
KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology98102119
Politecnico di Milano98111123
University of Zurich10010991
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Major Highlights Of QS World University Rankings 2026

Over 1,500 universities across 105 higher education systems are featured in the QS WUR 2026, where 100 locations are represented around the world. The majority of universities that are among the top universities worldwide are located in the USA, followed by the UK and China. Here is an overview of what is covered in the world university rankings

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  • MIT has maintained its rank at 1st for 14 years. IN 2026, MIT will remain the best university in the world.
  • Oxford University holds the 3rd position in the last 2 years, as per QS WUR. However, the rank got dropped to 4th as per the 2026 rankings.
  • The top 5 universities in the world as per QS 2026 include MIT, Imperial College London, Oxford, Harvard, and Stanford.
  • Around 500 universities have improved their performance from the previous year.
  • One of the universities that improved well from the past year is Sunway University in Malaysia. It has improved and skipped 120 ranks.
  • USA is a prominent country that boasts around 190 top universities, which are ranked by QS WUR 2026.
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Top Universities in the World 2026

The USA, UK, and Australia have the maximum number of universities in the top 100 universities for 2026 list drawn by QS or THE. The USA has the maximum number of top higher education institutes in the global universities ranking, followed by UK and China. This reflects that these countries focus hugely on maintaining the quality of their higher education institutions. Also, these countries give a lot of weightage to research, so, students attain firsthand knowledge and do not just limit their teaching to rot learning. Apart from this, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and Australia are some of the popular study-abroad destinations that have been included in the top universities in the world list. Ultimately, the best choice for top universities in the world 2026 depends on the requirements of an individual as well as the visa requirements of a particular country.

Explore top study abroad destinations

Why is QS World University Ranking Reliable?

QS Rankings are considered by many aspirants when selecting among the top universities in the world 2026 for their studies abroad. QS rankings provide an overall picture of a university. The most significant factors like student/faculty ratio, international students, employment outcomes, and sustainability. Sustainability refers to the potential of a university to stand well in the years to come. This is decided based on the research quality, presence of faculty, and curriculum adopted among others.

QS World University Rankings Methodology 2026

Top universities in the world 2026 rankings are different for different ranking engines. The most well-known ranking methodology, the QS ranking 2026 uses six metrics.

QS University Rankings Methodology

Metric

Weightage

Academic Reputation

40%

Employer Reputation

10%

Faculty/Student Ratio

20%

Citation per faculty

20%

International Faculty Ratio

5%

International Student Ratio

5%

Top 10 Indian Universities as per QS WUR 2026

Let us now check the top universities in India that are recognised by QS World University Rankings in 2026. The majority of IITs are in the top 10 Indian universities by QS.

Top UniversitiesQS WUR 2026
IIT Delhi123
IIT Bombay129
IIT Madras180
IIT Kharagpur215
IISc Bangalore219
IIT Kanpur222
University of Delhi328
IIT Guwahati334
IIT Roorkee339
Anna University465

QS Asia University Rankings 2025

Students must note that the QS Asia rankings 2026 have not been released yet. It is assumed to be announced in the end of October. Other than overall rankings, some of the greatest universities in the world are found based on specific regions as well. For those students seeking to study in Asia, one may opt for the top world universities based on QS Asia University Rankings. Hence, we have mentioned the QS Asia University Rankings 2025.

Top 10 Asia Universities (QS)

QS Asia University Rankings 2025

National University of Singapore

#8

Peking University

#14

Tsinghua University

#20

Nanyang Technological University

#15

University of Hong Kong

#17

University of Tokyo

#32

Seoul National University

#31

Zhejiang University

#47

Kyoto University

#50

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

#36

Subject Wise Top Universities in the World: QS WUR

As the subject wise QS WUR rankings 2026 are yet to be released, we have mentioned the rankings for 2025. Candidates who have decided on their stream and looking for the best universities in that domain can check the best universities for subject-wise categories. The subject-wise top universities in the world for masters are listed below.

Top Universities in the World for Business

Name of the University

QS 2025 Ranking for Business

Harvard Business School

1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

2

Stanford University

3

INSEAD

4

University of Cambridge

5

University of Oxford

5

London Business School

7

National University of Singapore (NUS)

8

University of Pennsylvania9

Bocconi University

10

Top Universities in the World for MBA

Name of the University

QS 2025 Ranking for MBA

Stanford University

1

Penn (Wharton)

2

Harvard Business University

3

MIT (Sloan)4
London Business School5

HEC Paris

6

Cambridge (Judge)

7

Columbia Business School

8

IE Business School

9

IESE Business School

10

Top Universities in the World for Masters

Name of the University

QS 2025 Ranking

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA

1

Imperial College London, UK

2

University of Oxford, UK

3

Harvard University, USA

4

University of Cambridge, UK

5

Stanford University, USA

6

ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Switzerland

7

National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

8

University College London (UCL), UK

9

California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA

10

Top Universities in the World for Engineering

Name of the University

QS 2025 Ranking for Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA

1

Oxford University, UK

2

Stanford University, (USA)

3

University of Cambridge, UK

4

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

5

University of California, Berkeley (UCB), (USA)

6

Tsinghua University (Mainland)

7

Imperial College, UK

8

Harvard University, USA

9

EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne10

Top Universities in the World for Computer Science

Name of the University

QS 2025 Ranking for Computer Science

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA

1

Stanford University, USA

2

Carnegie Mellon University, USA

3

National University of Singapore (NUS)

4

University of Oxford, UK

5

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)

6

Harvard University, USA

7

University of California (USA)

8

University of Cambridge (UK)

9

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

10

Note: Candidates can apply for the admission exams of these respective universities to get enrolled in the courses. Depending on the course, the entrance exams like GRE, GMAT, and SAT and get varies. Each university has its own cut-off marks and selection criteria for admission purposes. Candidate can check them individually and proceed with their study abroad goals.

ARWU Ranking 2025

The official Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2025 has not been released yet. Students can explore the top 100 universities in the world 2025 according to QS and THE for the time being. We will update the ARWU Ranking 2025 as soon as we get any update on the latest ranking data. The ARWU 2025 is also popularly referred to as the Shanghai Ranking 2025 official body.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2025, as well as QS and THE rankings, offer valuable information about the best world institutions, enabling students to make informed choices for their foreign higher education.

Most Popular Courses in Top 100 Universities in the World 2026

There are end number of courses available for students to study abroad. the major one being the STEM courses. STEM courses have gained popularity in countries like USA, Germany, Canada and in other countries as well. Other top courses and subjects in the top 100 universities in the world include:

  • Business Administration
  • Engineering
  • Medicine
  • Biotechnology
  • Information Technology
  • Architecture
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Hospitality and Tourism Management
  • Data Science

Admission Requirements for Top Universities in the World 2026

Admission requirements for the world’s top 100 universities in 2026 varies based on the course chosen by a student and the entry requirements of a university. However, each university has a few general admission requirements, which include academic scores, entrance exams, and documents to make a strong application. A few of these entry requirements to study at the best universities in the world 2026 are listed below:

  1. Academic Performance: All applicants are required to have a high academic score in their high school and their bachelor’s (if applying for a master’s degree). Admissions to the top 100 universities is highly competitive, hence students are expected to maintain a high GPA throughout their studies.

  2. Test Scores: Depending on the university and the course chosen, students must have a valid score in SAT, ACT, GMAT, or GRE exams. All international students are required to meet the English language requirement and hence must submit a valid IELTS or TOEFL score.

  3. Extracurricular Activities: Candidates are required to have an involvement in extracurricular activities, and show that they are all-rounder. In addition to having excellent academic results, students must be involved in extracurricular activities by applying for internships, and leadership positions, and participating in artistic or athletic competitions.

  4. Strong Application Documents: All applicants planning to seek admission to the top 100 universities in the world are required to have a strong application along with a well-written statement of purpose and letters of recommendation at the time of admission.

Benefits of Studying in the World's Top 100 Universities

There are numerous benefits to study at top universities of the world. Let us check a few of them:

  • World-Class Education
  • Exceptional Networking Opportunities
  • Career Opportunities and Advancement
  • Cutting-Edge Research Opportunities and Facilities
  • Diverse Learning Environment and Community

Entrance Exams for Studying Abroad

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How does the ranking of international universities help a student to study abroad?

The ranking of universities in the world by different reputed agencies such as QS, THE or ARWU will help a student shortlist the best universities to make the application process easier.

2. How can students use university rankings to their advantage?

Students can use the rankings to differentiate between universities and choose the most suitable one. If they have shortlisted say, seven universities, they can use the rankings to  narrow it down to three and proceed with their application.

3. Why are university rankings important?

University rankings help students to differentiate between colleges and find the best college suited to their needs.

4. Which is the top 1 university in the world 2026?

As per the QS World University Ranking 2026, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA is the top 1 university in the world 2026. Very impressively, it has been recognised at first for the 14th time this year by QS. 

5. What is the world's oldest university?

According to UNESCO, the world's oldest university is the University of Bologna, located in Italy. The university of Bologna was established in 1088 and is regarded as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. According to some historians and scholars, AL-Qarawiyyin is also known as the world's oldest existing educational institution.

6. Is the University of Oxford expensive?

The cost of attending the University of Oxford depends on a variety of factors which includes housing, food, transportation and many more. For international students, the cost of tuition at Oxford ranges from GBP 28,000 to GBP 44,000 per year. Students must have a budget of approximately GBP 1300 to GBP 1850 per month to cover the cost of studying at Oxford.

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Questions related to IELTS

Have a question related to IELTS ?

Hello,

It depends on the university you are applying to. Most German universities do not require GATE for admission to a Master's in Biotechnology. However, some universities may ask for the GRE , especially if you are applying to a highly competitive program.

You should check the specific admission requirements of the universities you are interested in. Generally, having IELTS (or TOEFL) and a German language proficiency certificate (if the course is in German) is enough.

Hope it helps !

Hello,

One the most general tips for the preparation of both tests would be to go for a structured approach and understand the format of the tests respectively and work on improving grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation along with it take regular tests and reviews them. Both have 4 section, Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking, so all four must be kept in focus, and thus you must plan your time according to your needs and areas of improvement.

Now, for TOEFL, it's recommended to use resources from ETS, that is, official materials and tests.

For IELTS, it's recommended to use resources from IDP, British Council and Cambridge, that give you sample tests and questions.

Wishing an all the very best for the test.

Hello Student,

For the AMC (Australian Medical Council) exam , which assesses international medical graduates for practice in Australia, the IELTS requirement is generally a minimum overall score of 7.0 , with no individual band score below 7.0 (in Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking).

Alternatively, the AMC also accepts equivalent scores from OET, TOEFL iBT, and PTE Academic :

  • OET : A grade of B in all four components.
  • TOEFL iBT : A minimum overall score of 94, with minimum scores of 24 in Listening, 24 in Reading, 27 in Writing, and 23 in Speaking.
  • PTE Academic : A minimum overall score of 65, with a minimum score of 65 in each communicative skill.

Meeting these requirements is essential to proceed with the AMC’s application and registration processes.


I hope this answer helps you. If you have more queries then feel free to share your questions with us we will be happy to assist you.

Thank you and wishing you all the best for your bright future.


Hello

To be eligible for the Australian Medical Council (AMC) exams , candidates must demonstrate English .

AMC assessment process :

1. Accepted English Language Tests and Scores

IELTS ( International English Language Testing System ) :

Overall band score : 7.0 in each band ( listening , reading , writing and speaking ) .

PTE Academic ( Pearson Test of English Academic ) :

Overall score of 65 in each band ( listening , reading , writing and speaking ) .

2. Validity of Test Scores

The test results must be no older than two years at the time of submitting your AMC application .

3. Preparation Tips for IELTS

Practice regularly : Build your language skills across all four components .

Take practice exams : practice can help improve speed and accuracy .

professional coaching if needed , specially for writing and speaking , which are often the most challenging part .

Use official IELTS resources : Cambridge IELTS books , online mock tests and other reliable materials can give you an accurate rating  .

4. Application Tips

Ensure that your English test scores are valid and meet the minimum requirements before applying .

Keep a copy of your scores as they may need to be provided to both the AMC and registration authority in Australia .

Hope this helps you .

All the best

If you have completed a master's degree in the UK, you might still need to take the IELTS test to qualify for a Permanent Residency (PR) or Work Visa in Australia. While your degree from an English-speaking country like the UK may demonstrate your proficiency in English, Australian immigration authorities typically require a standardized English language test score, such as IELTS, to assess your language skills formally.

For better guidance, Invicta Institute can provide you with detailed information and assistance regarding the specific English language requirements for Australian PR or Work Visa applications. Invicta's experienced counselors can help you navigate the process and determine if your UK degree suffices or if you need to take the IELTS test.

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