Oxford remains at the top of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026 for a tenth consecutive year. Cambridge advances to a joint third, up from fifth in 2025, while Imperial College London climbs to eighth from ninth. In total, 11 UK universities feature in THE’s top 100, and 109 UK institutions are listed in the overall ranking of 2,191 institutions.

THE explains the rankings are built from measures including teaching and research reputation and income from academia and industry. The UK performed well for teaching reputation, though it recorded a fall in research strength and the student–staff ratio rose from 16.8 to 20.5. The figures predate the current funding pressures in UK higher education, but the ratio is expected to worsen if staffing cuts continue and resources are stretched.

Leeds posted its best-ever position, rising from 123rd to 118th, and Liverpool moved from joint 160th to 143rd. City, University of London, formed by the merger of City and St George’s, entered the rankings in the 351–400 band as one of the top three new mergers. LSE fell out of the top 50 to 52nd, and Warwick dropped from 106th to joint 122nd. Trinity College Dublin slipped to 173rd, its lowest position in the list. The US remains dominant at the top, with MIT second and Princeton tied with Cambridge in third place; the upper part of the table is still largely populated by American universities. Separately, the Good University Guide placed LSE first in the country for the second year running. The organisers note that some social science entrants may be disadvantaged by rankings that favour broader science and engineering faculties.