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• Best European Universities by Times Higher Education 2023

Top European Universities as ranked by Times Higher Education 2023

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August 2020

In this list only European Universities are depicted. To calculate the rankings the following criteria were considered. Teaching (30%) - the learning environment Research (30%) – volume income and reputation Citations (30%) – research influence Industry income (2.5%) – innovation International Outlook (7.5%) staff, students and research.

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• Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2023
• Top host destination of international students worldwide 2022
• Higher education spending as a share of GDP worldwide 2020, by country
• International student share of higher-ed population worldwide in 2022, by country

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Statistics on " Higher education worldwide "

• World university rankings by Times Higher Education 2023/2024
• Leading universities by international patent applications 2022
• Countries with the highest rates of higher education levels worldwide 2021
• Educational attainment worldwide 2020, by gender and level
• Share of people with tertiary education in OECD countries 2022, by country
• Universities with highest number of students worldwide 2023/2024
• Number of universities worldwide in 2023, by country
• Leading universities in Africa 2022, by world web ranking
• Leading universities Asia 2023
• Latin America: leading universities 2024, by QS score
• Gender distribution at the world's leading universities 2023-2024
• Countries with the lowest rates of higher education levels worldwide 2021
• Share of women among first-time students to higher education 2021
• Share of women among entrants to higher education 2021, by field of study
• Average age of first-time students to higher education 2021, by age
• Distribution first-time students in higher education in OECD 2021, by field of study
• Completion rates among bachelor students 2020, by gender
• Universities worldwide with the highest share of international students 2023-2024
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• Higher education spending per student worldwide by country 2020
• Countries with the highest tuition fees in the OECD 2019

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• Basic Statistic World university rankings by Times Higher Education 2023/2024
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LSE ranked as one of the top universities in the world

These impressive results speak to the continuing hard work of members of the LSE community.

LSE has again been recognised as one of the best universities in the world, according to the most recent Times Higher Education World University Rankings .

Now in their 18th year, the THE World University Rankings compared data from over 1,600 institutions to place LSE 27th globally and 5th in the UK.

Commenting on the news,  LSE Director Minouche Shafik  said, “These impressive results speak to the continuing hard work of members of the LSE community, who are committed to providing high quality research and a world class education for our students.”

The results add to a series of positive rankings for LSE, which earlier in 2021 was ranked top in Europe and second in the world in social science and management subjects for the ninth consecutive year in the  QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021 .

Minouche Shafik added, “The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of social science research and the School remains dedicated to producing work that helps transform our world for the better.”

For more information about the rankings, please visit: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2022/world-ranking  

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University of Galway THE World University Ranking

• Methodology

THE World Rankings Overview

University of Galway partakes annually in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Ranking along with over 1,500 other universities.  The Times Higher Education (THE) investigates five key areas known as the performance indicators, using rigorous standards and global benchmarks across all University's key missions.

Five key areas; 

 - Teaching  (the learning environment) (29.5%); 

 - Research  (volume, income and reputation) (29%); 

 - C itations  (Citation Impact, Excellence, Influence and Strength) (30%);  

 - International  outlook  (staff, students and research) (7.5%); and 

 - I ndustry (Patents and Industry Income) (4%).

University of Galway was ranked in the 301-350 band in the results published September 2023, in THE World University Rankings for the year 2023.

THE Methodology

The Times Higher Education (THE) methodology is explained in detail on the  THE website. Below is a detailed breakdown of each metric in the THE Ranking 2024:

In the 2024 THE WUR Edition, there was a slight revision to the metrics , with some new metrics introduced and a re-weighting of others. 

The biggest change was to the Research Quality Pillar (previously Citations metric). They used to have one metric in this pillar, - Field Weighted Citation Impact accounting for 30% of the ranking.

They have retained this metric but reduced it to 15% of the ranking and introduced 3 new metrics worth 5% each

• Research strength (5%) – a guide to how strong typical research is, based on the 75th percentile of field-weighted citation impact
• Research excellence (5%) – a guide to the amount of world-leading research at an institution, based on the volume of research in the top 10% worldwide
• Research influence (5%) – a broader look at excellence, based on the volume of research recognised by the most influential research in the world.

Additionally they introduced a new metric for Patents (2%) (measuring how often a university's research is cited in Patents) while also normalising the International metrics taking into account the population size of each country

THE Results

See University of Galway's results in the Times Higher Education Ranking.

THE Press Releases

See press releases relating to the Times Higher Education (THE) University rankings.

Published 2021

Irish Times 2021

Published 2020

Irish Times 2020

Published 2019

• Gains for NUI Galway in THE World University Rankings 2019
• Irish Times 2019

Published 2018

• RTE News 2018
• Irish Examiner 2018
• Irish Independent 2018

Published 2017

NUI Galway maintains position in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Rankings 2017

Published 2016

• Read NUI Galway's news archive on the university rankings 2016.
• Read more on the Times Higher Education ( THE)  ranking results, in the  Irish Times , Irish Independent , Irish Examiner , The Journal.ie and the Galway Advertiser .
• President Dr. Jim Browne's Interview on News Talk, 24/09/2016

Find out more on the Times Higher Education  Ranking on the:

• THE World University Rankings website.

27th September 2023

University of Galway retains it's global rank of 301-350 in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024. 

20th Sept 2023

University of Galway is ranked 98th in Europe out of 690 institutions across 42 European locations in the inaugural QS World University Rankings: Europe  

27th June 2023

University of Galway is ranked 289th out of ~ 1500 institutions worldwide in the QS World university Rankings.  

1st June 2023

University of Galway continued to climb in the  5th edition of the Times Higher Education  (THE)  World IMPACT Rankings 2023, andhas a global rank of 34 (no. 1 in Ireland, up from 47 in 2022) out of a total  of 1,591 institutions from 112 countries across the World.

22nd March 2023

QS World University Subject Rank 2023: University of Galway achieved a global rank in 23 Subjects, up from 22 last year - with Performing Arts at University of Galway achieiving a global rank of 101-120 for the first time. The subject of English at University of Galway also broke into the top 100 in the world, achieving a global subject rank of 91. 

12th October 2022

University of Galway has climbed in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2023,  into the 301-350 category, up from the 351-400 category last year.

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Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021: Freie Universität Berlin Advances to Number 83 Worldwide

Freie universität among top seven universities in germany and 29th in europe.

№ 172/2021 from Sep 02, 2021

In the new ranking of the prestigious magazine Times Higher Education ( THE ), Freie Universität claimed 83rd place worldwide. As announced by THE in London, the university advanced 35 places compared to last year and is among the top seven universities in Germany. In Europe, Freie Universität ranks 29th (up from 43rd last year). Research is one of Freie Universität Berlin’s strong suits; under this metric it came in at number 59 worldwide.

According to the THE Ranking , the seven best German universities in the world are: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (rank 32), Technische Universität München (rank 38), Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (rank 42), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, a joint corporation of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (rank 73), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (rank 74), University of Tübingen (rank 78), and Freie Universität Berlin (rank 83). Compared to its ranking last year, Freie Universität has improved by 35 places worldwide, by 14 among European universities, and by three in Germany. In addition to Freie Universität Berlin’s strong ranking in research, it also placed well in the area of education, coming in at number 78.

The Times Higher Education ranking is based in part on a global survey among researchers that takes into account universities’ reputations, their research, teaching, international orientation, citation frequency of publications, and other statistical indicators.

Link to the Ranking

• https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2022/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats  
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UCC in the world university rankings

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Rankings highlights at a glance, top irish university for outbound exchange student opportunities.

Find out more

Top Irish university for highly cited researchers

9 subjects in the top 200 in 2023, top 160 - international faculty, top irish university for research impact, 1st in the world for sustainability, top irish university for industry collaboration, top in ireland for progression from 1st to 2nd year, top irish performer in the u-multirank european universities benchmark, top for graduate employability in ireland.

1 st  in Ireland for outbound student exchange opportunities according to  QS Europe Ranking Sept 2023

UCC is the top Irish university for highly cited researchers as measured by the prestigious  shanghai ranking of global universities Web of Science / Clarivate noted that  13 of the 35 of the world’s highest cited researchers in Ireland are based at UCC .

We have been named as one of the world’s top universities for the study of 25 subjects, according to the latest edition of the prestigious  QS World University Rankings by Subject . UCC has ranked in the top 50 universities for  Nursing (33)  and top 100 for  Law (59) ,  Agriculture and Forestry (61), Pharmacy and Pharmacology (99)  and  Anatomy & Physiology (51-100).

We have a further two subjects in the top 150 with English Language and Literature and Performing Arts , with Modern Languages and Medicine both appearing in the top 200. 

UCC ranks 152 globally for international faculty according to the  QS World University Rankings .

UCC is the top Irish University for research impact as measured by  Times Higher Education University Ranking 2023

'Global Sustainability Institution of the Year -  Green Gown Awards 2023'

UCC is the Top Irish University for Industry collaboration - Knowledge Transfer Ireland.

Separately, UCC’s €105 million overall investment in Research  makes us the leading irish university with regard to actively seeking and securing investment in Research and Development (R&D). 

UCC leads the sector in Ireland (along with TCD) on Progression Rate from 1st to 2nd Year , scoring 93 out of 100 in the Sunday Times League Table.

U-Multirank  scored UCC at A or B in 28 of 38 indicators used to benchmark performance of European universities in 2022, making it the top performer of the Irish HEIs under this independent assessment.

UCC is the top third-level institution in Ireland for Graduate Employability  (along with UL and NUIG) scoring 98 out of 100 in the most recently published Sunday Times League Table.

Explore UCC's progress across different world university rankings

Institutional level rankings.

Skip to a specific ranking:  1. Times Higher Education World Impact Ranking |  2. QS World University Ranking |  3. Times Higher Education World University Ranking |  4. ARWU – Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking) |  5. US News – Best Global Universities |  6.U-Multirank |  7. Webometrics |  8.Sunday Times League Table  |  9. QS Europe Rankings

1. Times Higher Education World Impact Ranking

UCC improved its position by 4 places and ranked an impressive 58 of 1,591 universities in the most recent edition of the global impact ranking published by Times Higher Education on 01 Jun 2023. This is an evidence-based ranking which examines the impact the university is having, through the prism of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In overall terms UCC scored 90.8 out of 100.

As well as our overall score and rank, we have also performed remarkably well across the individual UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with UCC ranking in the Top 50 in the world across 4 of the 17 SDGs.

UCC's best performing SDGs based on rank (including actual score out of 100) are as follows:

This ranking is particularly noteworthy in that not only does it look at data and metrics, it also examines the impact the university is having on society and the world around us on everything from the economy to the environment and social equity.

Times Higher Education assess the impact of the university across the university's teaching , research , student stewardship and community and public engagement so it is great to be recognised as a world leader in this regard, via this independent and rigorous annual assessment.

UCC's profile in the Times Higher Education World Impact Ranking

THE World Impact Ranking Methodology »

2. QS World University Ranking

UCC   improved its overall score  by 0.7 and overall rank by 11 places in the  QS World University Rankings 2023-24 which published on 27 June 2023. UCC now ranks 292 up from 303 last year. This year 2,963 universities were considered and 1,503 made the final published ranking. It measures performance across indicators including Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Student Faculty Ratio, Citation Per Faculty, Proportion of International Faculty and Proportion of International Students, as well as three new indicators relating to International Research Network, Graduate Employability and Sustainability.

UCC scores strongly across the board with particular strengths in the areas of internationalisation and sustainability.

UCC ranks at 152 for the international faculty indicator and an impressive 46 in the world for the advancement of sustainability. UCC was the only Irish university that ranked in the top 50 for any of the nine indicators used to assess the universities.

UCC's profile in the QS World University Ranking

QS World University Ranking Methodology »

3. Times Higher Education World University Ranking

UCC improved our overall score to its highest level of 51.3-53.0. In doing so, we maintained our position in the 301-350 band in the 20th edition of the  Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking  published on  27 Sep 2023. This is THE's flagship ranking and most competitive yet. THE considered almost 3,000 universities with 1,904 making the final published rank.

The ranking uses five pillars to rank the universities. These are Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry Engagement and International Outlook.  

THE amended their methodology this year and now uses 18 indicators across the 5 pillars. Changes include the adjustment of some of the weightings, adding three new research quality metrics to their ‘Citation Score’ in the Research Quality pillar and the introduction of new metrics for 'Patents' and students 'Studying Abroad'.

UCC's strongest pillar is Research Quality where UCC scores 82.4 and is ranked  at 275  globally. 

UCC's profile in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking

THE World University Ranking Methodology »

4. ARWU – Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking).

The first and most prestigious of the university rankings . UCC maintained its position in the 301-400 band  in this cycle of the Shanghai ranking, published on 15 Aug 2023. UCC remains  joint-second in Ireland with UCD (after TCD) in this ranking which is confined to the top 2,000 universities globally, of which 1,000 make the final published rank.

UCC continues to be the top Irish university for highly cited researchers in this ranking. 

UCC's profile in the ARWU – Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking)

Academic Ranking of World Universities ARWU (Shanghai Ranking) Methodology »

5. US News – Best Global Universities.

UCC is ranked 397 in the most recent cycle of  US News Best Global Universities which published online on 25 October 2022.

This ranking assesses the 2,165 universities against 13 different indicators with 'Percentage of highly cited papers that are in the top 1% most cited' (194), 'Books' (204), and 'Normalized Citation Impact' (241), being UCC's top indicators in this year's ranking. All three within the top 250 globally. Overall, UCC remains third in Ireland in this ranking after TCD and UCD.

UCC's profile in the US News – Best Global Universities Ranking

US News Best Global Universities Methodology »

6.U-Multirank

Is a  user-based approach to ranking universities  which was formed from an EC-funded project. It is a very rigorous assessment of the University which examines the University's performance in 38 different indicators across the areas of teaching and learning, research, knowledge transfer, international orientation and regional engagement . This year's assessment, which published on the U-Multirank website on 21 June 2022, saw UCC improve its performance to 17 A scores and 11 B scores out of the 38 performance indicators scored, making it the top performing Irish Higher Education Institution under this independent assessment again this year.

U-Multirank Methodology »

7. Webometrics

A  Spanish Government developed ranking with a primary purpose to promote scientific research, UCC improved its rank by 9 places to 377 of 12,000 global universities and third-level institutions. The latest version of the ranking, which published in July 2023, is based on three indicators relating to Impact, Excellence and Openness.

The ranking also continues to place UCC 3rd of 71 post secondary institutions in Ireland.

Webometrics Methodology »

8.Sunday Times League Table

UCC ranks 3rd in Ireland after TCD and UCD in this national ranking of Ireland’s seventeen third level institutions. This ranking looks across 8 different indicators and takes data from the CAO, HEA, and National Student Survey among other sources.

UCC leads the sector in Ireland on Graduate Employability (along with UL and NUIG) and on Progression Rate (along with TCD) from 1st to 2nd year, within this ranking.

UCC's profile in the Sunday Times League Table of Irish Higher Education Institutions

9. qs europe rankings.

The 2023/2024  QS Europe University Rankings (inaugural edition) released 20/09/2023 by global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) sees UCC placed 109 in Europe, which spans the Council of Europe countries. 

The ranking examines the universities against 12 indicators relating to the areas of Research & Discovery, Employability & Outcomes, Learning Experience, Global Engagement & Sustainability. It assessed universities across 42 locations. 

QS rated UCC highly across the board, with particular strengths for sustainability and global engagement. UCC is ranked at 21 in Europe for the advancement of sustainability and 57th and 58th respectively for international faculty and outbound exchange opportunities for students within this independent assessment. 

UCC is first in Ireland for sustainability and outbound student exchange opportunities within this ranking.

Niche / Specialised Rankings

1. UI Green Metric  |  2. QS Graduatge Employability Rankings |  3.Financial Times Executive Global Rankings  |  4. European Research Ranking  |  5. QS World Sustainability Ranking

1. UI Green Metric

UCC is ranked an impressive 6th in the world for sustainability according to the latest independent assessment from UI Green Metric which published on 5th Dec 2023, from the Sustainability Conference coinciding with COP 28.   

The UI Green Metric Ranking  measures the advancement of sustainability across 1,183 universities in 85 countries world-wide in the areas of Infrastructure and setting, waste, water, transportation, energy and climate change as well as education and research . UCC continues to be recognised as a world leader in this area and improved (from 7th last year) to 6th in the world this year. In doing so UCC retained its place within the top 10 in the world for the past seven years of this ranking . 

UCC has been the Top Irish University for Sustainability since the inception of this ranking in 2010.

UCC's profile in the UI Green Metric (Sustainability Ranking)

UI Green Metric Methodology »

2.QS Graduate Employability Rankings

UCC improved its position to the 201-250  band from 251-300 band in this ranking in 2019. The  ranking which examines the university’s initiatives around securing employment for their graduates was suspended by QS in 2020 due to Covid-19 and recommenced in 2021. 

UCC's profile in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings

QS Graduate Employability Ranking Methodology »

3.Financial Times Executive Global Rankings

University College Cork’s  Irish Management Institute (IMI) and  Cork University Business School (CUBS) have ranked an impressive 60th in the most recent cycle of the prestigious global FT Rankings for custom executive education. IMI/CUBS is the sole representative from Ireland on this ranking which published on 23 May 2023. 

The ranking, which encompass a wide range of criteria, including faculty quality, value for money, programme design, and learning outcomes, reaffirm IMI/CUBS as an unparalleled provider of executive education. More information on business school rankings is available on FT.com .

Financial Times – Business Rankings Methodology »

4. European Research Ranking

UCC ranks first in Ireland and impressive 33rd in Europe in the European Research Ranking . The data source is Cordis and the criteria used to rank the institutions include total funding per partner, total number of projects, total project funding, networking rank (reputation), partner constancy, project leadership index, diversity index. 

UCC's profile in the European Research Ranking

European Research Ranking Methodology »

5. QS World Sustainability Ranking

UCC improved 35 places from 123rd in last year's pilot ranking to 88th in the first fill iteration of this sustainable impact rankings from QS. In all, 1,403 universities make the final published listing, published Tue, 5 Dec 2023. The ranking examines three areas of environmental impact, social impact and governance. UCC ranks inside the Top 160 in the world for all three elements. 

UCC's profile in the QS Worl Sustainability Ranking

QS World Sustainability Ranking »

Subject / Discipline Rankings

1.qs world university rankings by subject .

Updated 10 Apr 2024

UCC has been named as one of the world’s top universities for the study of 24 subjects according to the latest ranking published 10 April 2024.  QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024   has seen UCC make the  Top 50  in one subject ( Nursing  – ranked at 32, up one from last year) and the Top 100 for another four subjects including  Law  (73),  Agriculture & Forestry  (79),  Pharmacy  &  Pharmacology  (94) and  Performing Arts  (51-100) respectively. 

Our Performance

• No. 32 for  Nursing ,
• No. 73 for  Law
• No. 79 for  Agriculture and Forestry,
• No. 94 for  Pharmacy  &  Pharmacology
• In the top 51-100 for Performing Arts ,, which has notably moved inside the top 100
• In the top 101-150  Anatomy  &  Physiology  and for  English Language and Literature ,
• In the top 151-200 for  Politics and International Studies and for Philosophy .
• The 8 subject areas that moved up a band were  Performing Arts , Electrical and Electronic Engineering , Pharmacy & Pharmacology , Nursing , Chemistry , Physics & Astronomy , Economics & Econometrics , and Politics & International Studies .

In overall terms UCC now features 24 times across the specific subject rankings. UCC is in the top 100 for 5 subjects, it has 9 top 200 subjects. It improved ranks in 8 subjects and has 1 'new' subject featuring this year, Philosophy.

It is great for UCC subjects to be recognised internationally where it is a real positive for the University to be featuring higher up, and more often in these global subject rankings. In total 1,559 universities are featured across 149 countries.

QS World University Rankings by Subject Methodology »

2. Global Ranking of Academic Subjects – Shanghai 

Updated 3 Nov 2023

UCC subjects feature prominently in the prestigious  Shanghai Subject Rankings . UCC features across 17 of Shanghai's subject categories in the most recent cycle (up from 15 last year), where

• Dentistry & Oral Sciences (Top 75),
• Food Science & Technology (Top 150),
• Clinical Medicine (Top 200)
• Human Biological Sciences (Top 200),
• Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences (Top 200)
• Nursing (Top 200),

are all at the top end of these global rankings. 

In the Irish context, UCC is first in Ireland for:

• Clinical Medicine

and joint first for each of: 

• Electrical & Electronic Engineering
• Biotechnology
• Energy Science and Engineering
• Human Biological Sciences
• Dentistry & Oral Sciences
• Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Medical Technology

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects – Shanghai Methodology »

3. US News – Global Subject Rankings

Twelve different UCC disciplines have made the most recent version of the US new Best global subjects  ranking, which published online on 25 October 2022. Some of UCC's top performing subject areas in this ranking are as follows

• Food Science and Technology (#57 - up two places)
• Agricultural Sciences (#69 - up 3 places),
• Microbiology (#78 - up 14 places),
• Neuroscience and Behaviour (#118 - up 6 places).

US News uses 13 different indicators to rank the universities in these subjects. The indicator 'percentage of highly cited papers that are in the world top 1% most cited ' is particularly strong for UCC subjects with Neuroscience & Behaviour ( 3rd in the world versus peer universities), Microbiology ( 4th in the world) , Psychiatry/Psychology ( 6th in the world ) for this indicator which relates directly to top quality research.

US News – Global Subject Rankings Methodology »

4.Times Higher Education (THE) World Subject Rankings

Rather than rank specific subjects,  THE publishes rankings across 11 broad subject areas each October. The most recent cycle published on 26 October 2023 and UCC once again improved its overall position across these global subject rankings.

The areas of Physical Sciences , Engineering & Technology , Computer Science , Social Sciences and Education all improved in this years ranking.

UCC is ranked 176-200 for both Clinical/Pre-clinical & health and inside the Top 250 for  Life Sciences, Psychology and Law.

Times Higher Education (THE) World Subject Rankings Methodology »

Summary Table

Use the table below to see UCC's positon across the different rankings over the last number of years.

Any Queries?

If you have any queries on UCC rankings, please contact David Hogan, Data and Institutional Research Officer .

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 21 articles.

Australian universities have dropped in the latest round of global rankings – should we be worried?

Judith Ireland , The Conversation

New global ranking system shows Australian universities are ahead of the pack

Nicholas M Fisk , UNSW Sydney and Ian Jacobs , UNSW Sydney

University rankings don’t measure what matters

Sioux McKenna , Rhodes University

Ignore university rankings, but make higher education an election issue

Michelle Stack , University of British Columbia

Forget university rankings, open days are the biggest factor in student choice

Emma Winter , University of Portsmouth

What makes a good university? Academics and students have different ideas

Omer Yezdani , Australian Catholic University

Universities should change the way they measure success

Gavin Moodie , RMIT University

Why are young Australian unis punching above their weight?

Chris Gibson , University of Wollongong

What are universities becoming? A plea from the future

John-Erik Hansson , European University Institute ; Nguyen Vu Thuc Linh , European University Institute , and Ola Innset , European University Institute

What do world university rankings actually mean?

Steven C. Ward , Western Connecticut State University

Asian universities continue their upward climb in global rankings

Gerard A. Postiglione , University of Hong Kong

The ritual dance of university rankings

Gwilym Croucher , The University of Melbourne

What rankings don’t tell you about university excellence

Jens Oddershede , University of Southern Denmark

Europe slides in Times Higher Education rankings

Laura Hood , The Conversation

University rankings show Asian rise and Australian slip

Bella Counihan, The Conversation

Harvard leads world, University of Melbourne leads Australia in Times reputation ranks

Sunanda Creagh , The Conversation

Limited numbers: what university rankings can (and can’t) tell us

Research funding pays off as Australian unis power ahead in rankings

Charis Palmer, The Conversation

When rankings and research rules, students come last

Adrian Lee , UNSW Sydney

University rankings here to stay, but should come with ‘health warnings’

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Which countries are home to the most educated people in Europe?

The proportion of the population with a higher education degree is higher in Nordic and Baltic countries, with women overall being the most educated.

When it comes to competition for jobs and resources, education has always been a crucial factor in our sucess.

The adult population in Europe with tertiary education, which is the highest level, considerably varies across the continent, according to the available data. 

On the average, almost one third aged 25-74 years in the European Union have a higher education degree, including public and private universities, colleges, technical training institutes, and vocational schools. Educational level also varies with age and gender.

So which countries have the highest rate of higher education in Europe, how do educational levels vary across Europe, and which countries pay more attention to vocational education? Euronews Next crunches the data.

• Oxford crowned the best in the Times' World University 2024 rankings. Where else made the grade?

How are educational levels defined?

Educational levels are defined as low (less than high school), middle (high school), or high (university studies). 

European data agency Eurostat’s classification is based upon the International standard classification of education (ISCED), and refers to:

● Low: pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education (ISCED levels 0–2);

● Medium: upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED levels 3 and 4);

● High: tertiary education (ISCED levels 5–8). It includes public and private universities, colleges, technical training institutes, and vocational schools.

In 2022, 31.8 per cent of people aged 25-74 years in the EU had a higher educational attainment, ranging from 17.4 per cent in Romania to 49.8 per cent in Ireland.

• Which university degree will earn you the most money? These are the highest paying

Nordic and Baltic countries have more graduates than EU average

Shares of higher education graduates were higher than the EU average in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Sweden and Norway ranked third and fourth with over 45 per cent of tertiary education graduates.

Of the Latvian population, 44 per cent had a higher education degree. Other Nordic and Baltic countries also had higher shares than the EU average in tertiary graduates.

In the UK, 43.5 per cent of the population aged 25-74 had a higher education, which was over the EU's ‘Big Four’ countries. France (38.2 per cent) had the highest share among them, followed by Spain (38 per cent).

After Romania, Italy had the lowest share of tertiary graduates at 18.5 per cent. This figure was also slightly below the EU average in Germany (31.5 per cent).

Population with lower education was above 40 per cent in four EU countries

The share of the population with higher education was significantly lower in the EU candidate countries.

Turkey had the highest share of the population with low education by far where two-thirds (61.8 per cent) had less than upper secondary education attainment.

This figure was also below 40 per cent in four EU countries, namely Portugal, Italy, Malta and Spain.

• Oxford topped the World University Rankings 2023. Where else in Europe made the cut?

Vocational orientation plays significant role in several countries

Looking at the details of medium educational attainment, consisting of general and vocational orientation, the share of vocational education is considerably high in several countries.

The share of people with vocational orientation at a medium education level was above 45 per cent in nine EU countries including Czechia (63.9), Poland (52.2), and Germany (47.4).

Younger people attain higher levels of education

The share of tertiary education graduates significantly increases among the younger population across Europe. 

This also indicates how the countries have been doing in recent decades. Thus, the level of population aged 25–34 years is largely analysed by international institutions.

More than two-fifths of EU population has tertiary education

In 2022, 42 per cent of the EU population aged 25–34 had a higher education degree. It varied 24.7 per cent in Romania to 62.3 per cent in Ireland.

Contrary to the population aged 25-74, Nordic countries Finland and Iceland had a lower share of tertiary education than the EU average.

This figure was above 50 per cent in one-third of EU countries. Ten EU countries were also behind the EU’s 45 per cent target by 2030.

• Gender pay gap: This is the only country in Europe that pays women more than men

Women are more educated than men

In 35 European countries where data is available, women aged 25–34 had a higher proportion of tertiary education attainment than men. 

In 2022, on the average, the proportion of women with tertiary education was 47.6 per cent whereas it was 36.5 per cent for men.

Except for Finland, the gender gap was significantly higher in Nordic and Baltic countries in favour of women. Iceland (25.4 percentage points, or pp), Slovenia (23.8 pp), and Slovakia (22.8 pp) recorded the highest difference.

Turkey (1.3 pp), Switzerland (3.6 pp), and Germany (4.6 pp) reported the smallest gap, showing the shares of women and men with a higher education degree are so close.

Proportion of population with higher education is growing

In the EU, the share of people aged 25-74 years with tertiary education has been constantly developing. It increased from 19.1 per cent in 2004 to 31.8 per cent in 2022.

Lifelong learning: Adults in education

Lifelong learning is also significant as people may need to update their skills. It is also called adult learning which is the participation in education and training for adults.

According to Eurostat, it includes all purposeful learning activities, whether it is formal, non-formal, or informal. 

The aim is to improve knowledge, skills, and competences among the participants. Adult learning is an important aspect when it comes to the digitalisation and automation in the labour market.

In 2022, the share of people aged 25 to 64 years in the EU who had participated in education or training in the previous 4 weeks was 11.9 per cent, ranging from 1.7 per cent in Bulgaria and 36.2 per cent in Sweden.

While the proportion of adult learning was high in Nordic countries, the Balkan countries had significantly lower shares compared to the EU average.

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Europe Teaching Rankings 2019

The Europe Teaching Rankings is part of Times Higher Education ’s series of tables focusing on higher education institutions’ teaching and learning environments for students. The results are heavily drawn from the THE European Student Survey, that this year received responses from 125,000 students across 18 countries.

As well as student engagement, the ranking measures student outcomes, the diversity of institutions’ environments, and the resources that universities have in order to teach effectively.

Overall, the ranking is underpinned by 14 individual performance metrics, including two new environment indicators this year.

View the Europe Teaching Rankings 2019 methodology

The UK is the stand-out performer in the second edition of the table, claiming 17 of the top 20 places and 99 positions overall. The University of Oxford is number one.

Meanwhile, Spain has made great progress this year; it is the only country outside the UK with representatives in the top 15, led by the University of Navarra at third place. The Netherlands has also improved, boasting four universities in the top 30, up from just one last year.

Italy has substantially increased its representation, claiming 33 places, up from 25 last year.

However, France’s top two representatives in last year’s table – Sorbonne University and Paris-Sud University – have both moved down, as have Germany’s frontrunners.

Read our analysis of the Europe Teaching Rankings 2019 results

Download a copy of the Europe Teaching Rankings 2019 digital supplement

Overall, 258 universities across 18 countries feature in the ranking, up from 242 institutions across eight nations last year.

Universities in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia feature for the first time.

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Read more about the Europe Teaching Rankings 2019

Student insights.

• Best universities in Europe for teaching

Academic Insights

• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: results announced
• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: going from strength to strength
• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: collaboration is key for keeping students engaged
• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: regional variations
• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: personal growth
• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: lifelong learning
• THE Europe Teaching Rankings 2019: studying abroad

Methodology:

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