Which Institutions Topped the 2021 QS World University Rankings?

2021 QS world university rankings

Discover the universities that are leading the pack in the 2021 QS World University Rankings 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has retained its top spot in the global higher education spaceaccording to the newly released 2021 QS World University Rankings. 

This was the ninth consecutive year that the institution has ranked first in the global rankings, scoring full marks in academic reputation, employer reputation, and faculty to student ratio.  

MIT is then followed by Stanford University and Harvard University in second and third place respectively, retaining their ranks from last year.  

The California Institute of Technology rose one place in the rankings, moving from fifth to fourth place, swapping positions with the University of Oxford.  

ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and the University of Cambridge both retained their positions of sixth and seventh place respectively.  

Imperial College London hit the eighth position, rising from ninth in last year’s rankings. The University of Chicago also saw some positive improvement, moving from tenth to ninth place.  

Finally, University College London (UCL) rounds out our top ten institutions, slipping slightly from its eighth position last year.  

To recap, here is the full list of the top ten institutions in the 2021 QS World University Rankings 

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  
  2. Stanford University 
  3. Harvard University 
  4. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 
  5. University of Oxford 
  6. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)  
  7. University of Cambridge 
  8. Imperial College London 
  9. University of Chicago 
  10. University College London (UCL) 

To discover more insights from the 2021 QS World University Rankings, download a free copy of our report today.  

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