| # | University | City | World rank | In-country | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imperial College London | London | #2 (2026) | #1 | 46,777,975 |
| 2 | University of Oxford | Oxford | #4 (2026) | #2 | 64,988,786 |
| 3 | University of Cambridge | Cambridge | #6 (2026) | #3 | 59,147,726 |
| 4 | University College London | #9 (2026) | #4 | 68,315,466 | |
| 5 | Kings College London | London | #31 (2026) | #6 | 23,452,267 |
| 6 | The University of Edinburgh | Edinburgh | #34 (2026) | #7 | 26,755,710 |
| 7 | University of Edinburgh | #34 (2026) | #7 | 26,755,710 | |
| 8 | The University of Manchester | Manchester | #35 (2026) | #8 | 31,728,663 |
| 9 | University of Manchester | #35 (2026) | #8 | 31,728,663 | |
| 10 | University of Bristol | #51 (2026) | #9 | 23,421,379 | |
| 11 | London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London | #56 (2026) | #10 | 2,874,472 | |
| 12 | University of Warwick | #74 (2026) | #11 | 9,418,235 | |
| 13 | University of Glasgow | Glasgow | #79 (2026) | #12 | 23,852,018 |
| 14 | University of Leeds | #86 (2026) | #13 | 14,909,670 | |
| 15 | University of Southampton | #87 (2026) | #14 | 14,025,408 | |
| 16 | The University of Sheffield | #92 (2026) | #15 | 16,775,294 | |
| 17 | University of Nottingham | #108 (2025) | #16 | 13,968,286 | |
| 18 | Queen Mary University of London | London | #110 (2026) | #17 | 13,957,675 |
| 19 | University of St. Andrews | #113 (2026) | #18 | 4,871,462 | |
| 20 | University of Bath | #132 (2026) | #19 | 4,609,345 | |
| 21 | Newcastle University | #137 (2026) | #20 | 12,842,205 | |
| 22 | University of Exeter | #155 (2026) | #21 | 7,715,761 | |
| 23 | University of York | #169 (2026) | #22 | 8,017,331 | |
| 24 | Cardiff University | #181 (2026) | #23 | 14,342,620 | |
| 25 | University of Reading | #194 (2026) | #24 | 5,451,210 | |
| 26 | The Queen's University Belfast | #199 (2026) | #25 | 6,935,581 | |
| 27 | Loughborough University | #225 (2026) | #26 | 3,881,798 | |
| 28 | University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) | Glasgow | #251 (2026) | #27 | 4,664,761 |
| 29 | University of Strathclyde | #251 (2026) | #27 | 4,664,761 | |
| 30 | University of Aberdeen | #262 (2026) | #28 | 7,343,640 | |
| 31 | University of Surrey | #262 (2026) | #29 | 4,274,340 | |
| 32 | University of Sussex | Brighton | #278 (2026) | #30 | 6,672,423 |
| 33 | Heriot-Watt University | #287 (2026) | #31 | 1,899,588 | |
| 34 | Swansea University | #307 (2024) | #32 | 3,498,584 | |
| 35 | University of Leicester | #326 (2026) | #33 | 8,524,930 | |
| 36 | Oxford Brookes University | #374 (2026) | #35 | 934,455 | |
| 37 | University of East Anglia | Norwich | #381 (2026) | #36 | 5,543,488 |
| 38 | Brunel University Uxbridge | #385 (2026) | #37 | 3,369,902 | |
| 39 | Birkbeck College, University of London | #388 (2026) | #38 | 1,840,470 | |
| 40 | Aston University | #395 (2026) | #39 | 1,860,236 | |
| 41 | University of Dundee | #428 (2026) | #40 | 7,124,164 | |
| 42 | University of Stirling | #452 (2025) | #41 | 1,925,535 | |
| 43 | University of Essex | #456 (2026) | #42 | 2,145,128 | |
| 44 | Royal Holloway and Bedford New College | #461 (2026) | #43 | 3,996,593 | |
| 45 | University of Wales, Bangor | #474 (2025) | #44 | 2,436,396 | |
| 46 | University of Huddersfield | #501 (2025) | #45 | 781,247 | |
| 47 | School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London | #511 (2024) | #46 | 241,240 | |
| 48 | University of Hull | #516 (2025) | #47 | 2,181,013 | |
| 49 | Coventry University | #526 (2025) | #48 | 985,936 | |
| 50 | University of Bradford | #531 (2025) | #49 | 1,462,631 |
What the two columns mean
In-country is the position the ranking record gives the university among those in its own country, and it is often the more useful number: a university ranked 480th in the world may still be third at home. It is carried over as published, so it does not always follow the order of the other two columns. World rank is the university's QS World University Rankings position. Citations are the number of times work published by the university has been cited, as recorded in OpenAlex; it is the measure used to order universities that QS does not rank at all.
The two do not always agree. A large research university can out-cite a smaller one that sits above it in QS, because QS weighs reputation surveys and staff ratios as well as research.