QS World University Rankings Methodology
QS World University Rankings calculates each university's overall score from 9 weighted indicators:
Indicators & weights
9 indicators-
30%
Academic Reputation
Survey of 130,000+ academics worldwide. Measures how peers rate the university's teaching and research excellence.
-
15%
Employer Reputation
Survey of 75,000+ employers. Measures how graduates perform in the workplace and which universities they prefer to hire from.
-
20%
Citations per Faculty
Total research citations divided by number of faculty. Indicates research impact and quality.
-
10%
Faculty/Student Ratio
Number of academic staff per student. Lower student-to-faculty = more individual attention.
-
5%
International Faculty
Proportion of international academic staff. Indicates global academic environment.
-
5%
International Students
Proportion of international students. Indicates how welcoming and diverse the campus is.
-
5%
International Research Network
Diversity of international research partnerships and collaborations.
-
5%
Employment Outcomes
Graduate employability and alumni impact. Includes employment rate and high-profile alumni.
-
5%
Sustainability
Environmental and social impact. Measures institution's contribution to climate action and ESG.
Source:
topuniversities.com/qs-world-university-rankings/methodology ↗Why we publish methodology
Every ranking on this site is computed from a public, transparent indicator set. We do not move universities up or down for commercial reasons.
Where the ranking source is external (QS, THE, ARWU), we link to the original methodology document. Where the signal is computed in-house (community mention score, programme count), we explain the inputs end-to-end.
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