THE World Universities Ranking 2026: Oxford leading for tenth year, Europe in decline and Asia rising

The Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking 2026 is led by the University of Oxford (UK) for the tenth consecutive year, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), retaining its second place from last year, followed by Princeton University (USA) and the University of Cambridge (UK), climbing from fourth and fifth place respectively to joint third and detroning Harvard University, which falls to fifth, according to the ranking published by THE on 09/10/2025.

The USA dominates the top 10 with seven universities ranked. The UK counts three universities in the top 10 and is the first European ranked, followed by Switzerland, which appears in eleventh place with ETH Zurich.

THE reports an "overall trend of decline for continental Europe", with major drops from German, French, Dutch, Swedish and Irish institutions. However, Denmark, Finland and Norway show ranking rises.

2,191 universities are ranked overall from 115 countries and territories, including 43 European countries.

"This year's rankings highlight a dramatic and accelerating trend: the shift in the balance of…