A-Level exam season is almost up. And with that, all that’s left for thousands of students to do is to wait and see whether they did enough to get into their uni of choice. Thousands more will be stepping into their final year of school and soon have to start thinking about where they want to end up next.
There are loads of things to consider when it comes to picking a uni – where it is, what the culture is like, what kind of stuff it teaches, etc. But if prestige is important to you, you might be excited to know that the 2026 QS University Rankings have just dropped.
Whether you’re waiting on your exam results or still yet to apply, here’s a breakdown of how the UK did.
With four establishments repping the UK, the top 10 was dominated by British and American unis. Imperial College trumped both Oxford and Cambridge for another year to be named the second best university in the world, beaten only by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). You can read more about Imperial’s triumph here.
Oxbridge were the next best UK universities on the list. The University of Oxford was the highest ranked of the two, coming in fourth place with a score of 97.9 out of 100. It earned full marks in the academic reputation, employability, learning experience and international research network categories.
The University of Cambridge landed in sixth place with an overall score of 97.2. The categories it excelled in were academic reputation, faculty student ratio and employability. University College London was the fourth and final UK university that made it into QS’s top 10. It was number nine on the list with a score of 95.8 out of 100.
As for the rest of the top 50, there were three more British unis that made the cut. King’s College London ranked 31st, the University of Edinburgh placed 34th and the University of Manchester earned 35th place.
UK universities in the top 50 in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings 2026
- Imperial College London (2)
- The University of Oxford (4)
- The University of Cambridge (6)
- University College London (9)
- King’s College London (31)
- The University of Edinburgh (34)
- The University of Manchester (35)
Check out the full list on the QS University Rankings website here.
Plus: The UK is home to three of the best road trips in Europe.
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