NCUK University Partners shine in QS World University Rankings 2027
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NCUK celebrates the outstanding performance of its university partners in the QS World University Rankings 2027. With partner institutions ranked among the world’s best across a wide range of disciplines, the results reaffirm the exceptional quality of the universities students can access through NCUK’s internationally recognised programmes.
This year’s rankings featured over 1,500 universities in the final list. NCUK is proud to have 10 of its university partners ranked in the QS World Top 100 and 21 in the QS Top 200. UNSW Sydney continues to lead this list and is now at 19th. This is followed by The University of Manchester at =40th and the University of Bristol at 57th.
Other NCUK University Partners within the world’s Top 100 are:
- The University of Auckland (67)
- University of Birmingham (=68)
- The University of Western Australia (=77)
- University of Leeds (=77)
- University of Sheffield (=82)
- Durham University (85)
- University of Alberta (96)
NCUK University Partners in the QS World Top 200:
- Queen Mary University of London (103)
- RMIT University (=119)
- University of Exeter (136)
- University of Liverpool (139)
- Newcastle University (149)
- University of York (=158)
- Lancaster University (164)
- Queen’s University Belfast (=174)
- Cardiff University (=179)
- University of Reading (=196)
- University of Otago (198)
The 2027 results are particularly encouraging due to impressive rises in the ranking by several of our university partners. The following NCUK University Partners recorded some of the most notable climbs in this year’s rankings:
- UNSW Sydney — rose 1 place to 19, further securing its position among the world’s top 20 universities
- University of Birmingham — rose 8 places to =68
- University of Leeds — rose 9 places to =77
- University of Sheffield — rose 10 places to =82
- Durham University — rose 9 places to 85
- University of Exeter — rose 19 places to 136
- University of Liverpool — rose 8 places to 139
- Queen’s University Belfast — rose 25 places to =174
- Massey University — rose 15 places to 215
- University of Leicester — rose 12 places to =314
- Brunel University of London — rose 32 places to 353
- University of Essex — rose 18 places to =438
- University of Bradford — rose 14 places to =497
- Northumbria University, Newcastle — rose 22 places to =528
- Manchester Metropolitan University — rose 43 places to =600
We are immensely proud of the achievements of our partner universities in this year’s QS World University Rankings. These results speak to the outstanding academic environments our students can expect when they progress through an NCUK programme. For students and families making decisions about international higher education, rankings like these provide real confidence and we are delighted that so many of our partners continue to be recognised at the very highest level.
Ben Bilverstone, Director of Recruitment and Conversion at NCUK
NCUK partners with over 80 universities globally, giving students a pathway to institutions that are consistently recognised for their research output, academic excellence, and student experience. This year’s QS rankings further demonstrate that an NCUK pathway programme provides students with skills and knowledge to progress to some of the most prestigious universities in the world.