Explore the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 below. Trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts, the list ranks 2,092 institutions from 115 countries and territories.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 includes almost 1,400 universities across 92 countries, standing as the largest and most diverse university rankings ever to date. The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 include more than 1,600 universities across 99 countries and territories, making them the largest and most diverse university rankings to date. The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

For the academic year of 2024/2025, the University of Oxford was ranked as the best university in the world, with an overall score of 98.5 according the Times Higher Education. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University followed behind. A high number of the leading universities in the world are located in the United States, with the ETH Zürich in Switzerland the highest ranked neither in the United Kingdom nor the U.S.

Iceland had the highest inequality-adjusted education index score worldwide, amounting to **** out of one on the index. Germany followed with an index score of ****. The inequality-adjusted education index is the education index in the Human Development Index adjusted for inequality.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 include 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions, making them the largest and most diverse university rankings to date. The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Dataset containing university rankings. See source: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings

Originally used in:

Anahideh, Hadis, and Nasrin Mohabbati-Kalejahi. "Local explanations of global rankings: insights for competitive rankings." IEEE Access 10 (2022): 30676-30693. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9733934

The average for 2021 based on 165 countries was 72.61 index points. The highest value was in Luxembourg: 422.59 index points and the lowest value was in Turkey: 10.85 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Abstract

This study provides an update on measures of educational attainment for a broad cross section of countries. In our previous work (Barro and Lee, 1993), we constructed estimates of educational attainment by sex for persons aged 25 and over. The values applied to 129 countries over a five-year intervals from 1960 to 1985.

The present study adds census information for 1985 and 1990 and updates the estimates of educational attainment to 1990. We also have been able to add a few countries, notably China, which were previously omitted because of missing data.

Dataset:

Educational attainment at various levels for the male and female population. The data set includes estimates of educational attainment for the population by age - over age 15 and over age 25 - for 126 countries in the world. (see Barro, Robert and J.W. Lee, "International Measures of Schooling Years and Schooling Quality, AER, Papers and Proceedings, 86(2), pp. 218-223 and also see "International Data on Education", manuscipt.) Data are presented quinquennially for the years 1960-1990;

Educational quality across countries. Table 1 presents data on measures of schooling inputs at five-year intervals from 1960 to 1990. Table 2 contains the data on average test scores for the students of the different age groups for the various subjects.Please see Jong-Wha Lee and Robert J. Barro, "Schooling Quality in a Cross-Section of Countries," (NBER Working Paper No.w6198, September 1997) for more detailed explanation and sources of data.

Geographic coverage

The data set cobvers the following countries: - Afghanistan - Albania - Algeria - Angola - Argentina - Australia - Austria - Bahamas, The - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Barbados - Belgium - Benin - Bolivia - Botswana - Brazil - Bulgaria - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Canada - Cape verde - Central African Rep. - Chad - Chile - China - Colombia - Comoros - Congo - Costa Rica - Cote d'Ivoire - Cuba - Cyprus - Czechoslovakia - Denmark - Dominica - Dominican Rep. - Ecuador - Egypt - El Salvador - Ethiopia - Fiji - Finland - France - Gabon - Gambia - Germany, East - Germany, West - Ghana - Greece - Grenada - Guatemala - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Guyana - Haiti - Honduras - Hong Kong - Hungary - Iceland - India - Indonesia - Iran, I.R. of - Iraq - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Jamaica - Japan - Jordan - Kenya - Korea - Kuwait - Lesotho - Liberia - Luxembourg - Madagascar - Malawi - Malaysia - Mali - Malta - Mauritania - Mauritius - Mexico - Morocco - Mozambique - Myanmar (Burma) - Nepal - Netherlands - New Zealand - Nicaragua - Niger - Nigeria - Norway - Oman - Pakistan - Panama - Papua New Guinea - Paraguay - Peru - Philippines - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Rwanda - Saudi Arabia - Senegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Singapore - Solomon Islands - Somalia - South africa - Spain - Sri Lanka - St.Lucia - St.Vincent & Grens. - Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Sweden - Switzerland - Syria - Taiwan - Tanzania - Thailand - Togo - Tonga - Trinidad & Tobago - Tunisia - Turkey - U.S.S.R. - Uganda - United Arab Emirates - United Kingdom - United States - Uruguay - Vanuatu - Venezuela - Western Samoa - Yemen, N.Arab - Yugoslavia - Zaire - Zambia - Zimbabwe

This statistic illustrates the ranking of China's education among ** countries in the global soft power index list from 2015 to 2019. According to the Soft Power ** study results of 2019, China ranked number ** in the education category among ** countries worldwide making an four-place jump since the previous year.

This dataset tracks annual overall school rank from 2015 to 2023 for Center For International Education A Cambridge Associate School

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021 include more than 1,500 universities across 93 countries and regions, making them the largest and most diverse university rankings to date. The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Finland had the highest quality of primary education in the world in 2017, with an index score of ***. The index runs on a scale of one (low quality) to seven (very good). Switzerland, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Estonia rounded out the top five for countries with the highest quality of primary education. A solid foundation Primary school age children are generally between the ages of six and eleven years old. Primary school is the first stage of formal education and consists of general knowledge and fundamental skills in areas like mathematics, reading, writing, and science, with student enrollment rates being particularly high in advanced economies. This helps young students to form a solid base for further study as they get older. Primary education in the United States Primary schools in the United States, where they are called elementary schools, can be either private or public institutions, with enrollment in public schools generally higher than in private schools. Education from the age of five is mandatory in the U.S., whether that be through the state-funded public school system, private schooling, or through an approved home school program. Depending on state law, students can leave school between the ages of 16 and 18.

This dataset contains rankings of the world universities as maintained by Quacquarelli Symmonds. QS is a British think-tank company specializing in the analysis of higher education institutions throughout the world. QS uses 6 factors for their ranking framework wiz. Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty to Student Ratio, Number of citations per faculty, International Faculty, International Students. Another feature included in this data was Classification (which is not used for ranking) which included the institution's size, subject range, research intensity, age, and status.

This data can be used to analyze a specific set of universities' performances over the years as seen by QS. The scores can be an indicator of how well or bad have the universities performed in comparison to the last year.

Historical Dataset of Center For International Education A Cambridge Associate School is provided by PublicSchoolReview and contain statistics on metrics:Total Students Trends Over Years (2016-2023),Total Classroom Teachers Trends Over Years (2016-2023),Distribution of Students By Grade Trends,Student-Teacher Ratio Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Asian Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Hispanic Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Black Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),White Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Two or More Races Student Percentage Comparison Over Years (2019-2023),Diversity Score Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Free Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Comparison Over Years (2016-2023),Reading and Language Arts Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2015-2022),Math Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2015-2023),Science Proficiency Comparison Over Years (2021-2022),Overall School Rank Trends Over Years (2015-2023),Graduation Rate Comparison Over Years (2018-2023)

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 include 1,907 universities across 108 countries and regions. The table is based on a new methodology, which includes 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

The average for 2022 based on 76 countries was 88.21 percent. The highest value was in Andorra: 100 percent and the lowest value was in San Marino: 34.16 percent. The indicator is available from 1998 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2022 based on 126 countries was 94.03 percent. The highest value was in Finland: 144.85 percent and the lowest value was in Burkina Faso: 33.72 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2021 based on 158 countries was 4.48 percent. The highest value was in Kiribati: 14.2 percent and the lowest value was in Nigeria: 0.38 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2022 based on 78 countries was 439.569 index points. The highest value was in Singapore: 574.664 index points and the lowest value was in Cambodia: 336.396 index points. The indicator is available from 2003 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.