If the prestige of the university where you will study your degree is one of the most important factors for you when choosing where to study, you will be interested to know that 5 of the 10 best universities in the world are located in Europe, according to the QS World University Ranking 2024. In fact, 4 of them are in the UK, and 1 in Switzerland.

In total, 501 European universities are among the best in the world, according to the aforementioned classification, roughly a third of those analyzed there. Among them, the United Kingdom stands out in particular, as it is the country with the most internationally ranked universities in Europe (90), ahead of Germany (49) and Italy (42).

It should also be noted that for the preparation of the twentieth edition of the QS World University Rankings 2024, 1,500 institutions from 104 locations have been taken into account. Methodological improvements have also been implemented by introducing three new metrics to the existing ones: sustainability, work results and the international research network.

British universities, the best in Europe

The University of Cambridge is the leader of the ranking of the best university centers in Europe and is also the second in the world, surpassed only by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, which takes the first place in the world for the twelfth year in a row.

This British university has achieved an overall score of 99.2 and stands out with the highest score (100) in the following indicators: academic reputation, reputation among employers, student-teacher ratio, international teaching ratio and employment outcomes, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) international higher education consultancy according to this ranking.

In second place, at the European level, is the University of Oxford with an overall score of 98.9, which also places it as the third best university in the world. The European top 5 includes Imperial College London (97.8), ETH Zurich (93.3) and London's Global University (UCL) (92.4).

Below, we show you the rest of Europe's universities that make up the Top 10 best on the continent, according to the QS World University Ranking 2024.