Macquarie University

Another Sydney-based institution, Macquarie University is ranked joint 229th in the world alongside Victoria University of Wellington, and is home to 11,000 international students from over 100 countries, making it one of the most international universities in the world.

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University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)

Ranked 218th in the world, climbing 46 places from last year’s ranking, UTS attracts students from all over the world. With over 37,000 students in total, it is one of the largest universities in Australia.

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University of Adelaide

Ranked joint 113th in the world alongside the University of Science and Technology of China, the University of Adelaide is the third oldest university in Australia and is a member of the Group of Eight.

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University of Western Australia (UWA)

The University of Western Australia (UWA), located in Perth, is ranked 98^th in the world rankings this year and is another research-intensive university. Its campus is known for its vibrant social, cultural and sporting life as well as its beauty.

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Monash University

Ranked 67th in the world, Monash University in Victoria was named after the prominent Australian general Sir John Monash and is home to major research facilities such as the Australian Stem Cell Center.

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University of Queensland (UQ)

Also joint 46th in the world rankings, the University of Queensland (UQ) is primarily located in Brisbane and is the oldest university in Queensland, having been founded in 1909. It has produced many notable alumni, including Geoffrey Rush and Nobel Laureate Dr Peter Doherty.

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University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Also located in Sydney, UNSW is ranked joint 46th in the world alongside fellow Australian institution, the University of Queensland. It is a founding member of the Group of Eight, a coalition of top universities in Australia with a core focus on research, and of Universitas 21, a leading global network of research universities.

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University of Sydney

Ranked 45th in the world, the University of Sydney’s main campus in the inner-city suburbs has also been ranked in the top 10 of the world’s most beautiful universities by The Daily Telegraph.

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University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is currently ranked 42nd in the world, and has been ranked especially well for its education, accounting, psychology and medicine degrees. Click here to read an article comparing the two top Australian universities.

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Australian National University (ANU)

Ranked joint 19th in the world alongside King’s College London, Australian National University (ANU) is located in the country’s capital, Canberra, and is the only university to have been created by the Parliament of Australia. It is particularly highly regarded for its politics, linguistics, geography and science courses.

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ABOUT US

We believe that education and career decisions are too important to leave to chance, so we want to ensure candidates have access to the best tools and the best independent expert information before making a decision. Our ambition is to be the world’s leading media, events and software company in the higher education field.


We are the leading global career and education network for ambitious professionals looking to further their personal and professional development, With extensive contacts in the field of higher education, our industry expertise and experience gives us the flexibility to adapt to the needs of our prospective clients.

We organises the largest business education events in the world, the QS World MBA Tour, the QS World Executive MBA Tour and the leading postgraduate studies information event, the World Grade School Tour, amongst an extensive product range including print and online publications and software solutions.

The achievers from the graduate, MBA and executive communities around the world with leading business schools, postgraduate departments at universities and with employers, through websites, events, e-guides and technical solutions.

We are a medium-sized company with over 250 staff in offices throughout the world: London, Paris, Bucharest, Stuttgart, Mumbai and Singapore. A multi-cultural employee base, there are 26 languages spoken in the marketing department alone. The World MBA Tour travels to 70 cities in 39 countries enabling over 50,000 ambitious MBA candidates to meet face-to-face with high calibre business schools. The World Grade School Tour visits 47 cities in 31 countries, bringing the complete A to Z of postgraduate programs to over 40,000 prospective master's and PhD students.

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Queen’s University

Based in Kingston, Ontario, Queen’s University, is ranked 206th in the world this year, and has campuses spanning more than 1,400 hectares (3,500 acres) of land throughout Ontario. Queen's was the first university west of the maritime provinces to admit women, and to form a student government.

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University of Calgary

Ranked joint 204th in the world alongside the Università Di Bologna, the University of Calgary is the birthplace of significant inventions such as the neurochip, and counts the current Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, among its alumni.

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Western University

Otherwise known as the University of Western Ontario, Western University is ranked 192nd in the world this year and is especially known for its medicine, science and business courses – with its largest faculty being the social sciences.

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University of Waterloo

Ranked 152nd in the world this year, the University of Waterloo has climbed 17 places compared to the previous year’s rankings. The university is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada, and claims to have the number one psychology department in Canada, based on research citations.

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McMaster University

This year McMaster University ranks joint 149th in the world alongside the Université Catholique De Louvain. It’s is located on a 300 acre campus in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, which in recent years has attracted attention for its growing arts scene.

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Université de Montréal

The Université de Montréal is one of Canada’s major research centers, allocating nearly $524 million to research conducted in more than 150 research centers as of 2011. It ranks 115th in the world this year and has an international community of over 7,000 students.

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University of Alberta

Ranked joint 96th in the world in the QS World University Rankings this year alongside the University of Helsinki, the University of Alberta is a major economic driver in Alberta and has been particularly well-respected for its arts and humanities courses.

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University of British Columbia

Over on the west coast, the University of British Columbia ranks 50th in the world and is home to almost 60,000 students (almost 12,000 of whom are international students) at its campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna.

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University of Toronto

Ranked 34th in the world, the University of Toronto is located in Canada’s largest city. Its areas of acclaim include literary criticism, communication and theory, and a range of research innovations, including being the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research.

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McGill University

Ranked 24th in the world, McGill University has once again overtaken the University of Toronto to return to its earlier position as the highest ranking university in Canada. Founded in 1821, the university has international students from 150 countries and has been voted first in Canada among medical-doctoral universities for 10 consecutive years.

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University of Warwick

Actually located on a self-contained campus just outside of Coventry, the University of Warwick is ranked joint 51st this year alongside Australia’s University of Queensland. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, it’s already established a strong international reputation in its first half-century.

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University of Bristol

Ranked 41st in the world, the University of Bristol in South West Englandis another member of the Russell Group of research-intensive UK universities and has been associated with 12 Nobel Prize winners throughout its 140-year history.

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London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is ranked joint 37th in the world this year (alongside Japan’s Kyoto University). LSE specializes in the social sciences and has a very diverse student body, with around 9,600 full-time students from 140 countries.

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University of Manchester

Up four places to rank 29th in the world in 2016/17, the University of Manchester is another well-respected Russell Group member, the largest single-campus UK university and one of the largest in the country in terms of student numbers.

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King's College London (KCL)

Heading back to the south, and King’s College London is this year ranked 21st in the world. KCL is known for its medical teaching and research, and is home to the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, the world’s first professional nursing school.

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University of Edinburgh

Consistently the highest-ranked university in Scotland, the University of Edinburgh climbs two places in the worldwide ranking this year to rank 19th. Founded in 1582, the university is a member of the prestigious Russell Group, as well as the League of European Research Universities.

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Imperial College London

Imperial College London is the last of these top UK universities to appear in the global top 10, ranked 9th in the world this year. Known for its high-impact research and innovation, Imperial founded the first academic health science center in the UK.

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UCL (University College London)

UCL is the highest ranked university in London for the second time in a row this year, placing 7th in the global ranking and therefore 3rd amongst UK universities. An impressive 15,600 of UCL’s 38,300 students are from outside the UK, providing good grounds for its claim to be ‘London’s global university’.

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University of Oxford

The oldest university in the English-speaking world, the University of Oxford is ranked 6th in the world and 2nd in the UK this year. This highly prestigious institution has educated no fewer than 27 Nobel Prize winners, 27 UK Prime Ministers, and many more successful figures, such as Sir Stephen Hawking.

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University of Cambridge

Retaining first place amongst UK universities is the University of Cambridge, ranked 4th in the world this year. One of the oldest universities in the world (founded in 1209), Cambridge is closely linked to the business cluster ‘Silicon Fen’ and currently educates around 19,000 students of various nationalities.

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University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania, commonly known as Penn, is ranked 18th in the world this year. Located in Philadelphia, it’s another institution which is highly regarded for life sciences and medicine, achieving first place in this year’s inaugural ranking of the world’s top nursing schools.

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Johns Hopkins University

Ranked 17th in the world, Johns Hopkins University was established in 1876. Considered to be the first research university in the US, it is particularly esteemed for research and teaching in the life sciences and medicine (achieving fifth place for this in the QS World University Rankings by Faculty).

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Cornell University

Located in Ithaca, New York, Cornell University ranks 16th in the world this year. Having awarded the nation’s first veterinary medicine degree, it currently ranks second in the world for veterinary science in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016.

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Yale University

Ranked 15th in the world, Yale University’s alumni includes five US presidents and 13 billionaires, and in 1861 the university awarded the first PhD in the US. Around 20% of Yale’s 12,385 students are international, representing 118 countries.

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Princeton University

Princeton University retains its position, at 11th place once again this year. Another of the oldest US universities, it’s especially renowned for academic excellence in the arts and humanities, achieving seventh place for this in the faculty rankings.

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University of Chicago

Ranked fifth in the US and tenth in the world this year, the University of Chicago is affiliated with 89 Nobel Prize winners, and its physics department is known for developing the world’s first man-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

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Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK)

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), also founded in 1959, places 22nd in the BRICS ranking this year. Located on extensive 1,000 acre grounds just outside the city of Kanpur (in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh), around 7,000 students are enrolled. Like the other institutes of technology, its main focus is on engineering and technology subjects, but it also offers a selection of programs in arts, humanities and social sciences. IIT Kanpur was the first Indian institute to offer education in computer science.

IIT Kanpur appears in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 10 times this year, achieving its best position (in the global top 100) for electrical and electronic engineering, and a place in the top 150 for seven other subjects, including computer science and statistics.

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Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) climbs from 16th to 13th place in this year’s BRICS ranking. IIT Bombay was founded in 1958 and has since established itself as one of the top universities in India. Mainly a technical institution known for its engineering and science courses, it also offers a variety of arts and humanities programs. IIT Bombay builds links with peer universities both in India and abroad, in order to enhance its research and study programs. It’s located in the Powai area in the north-east of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) and has around 8,000 students.

IIT Bombay is ranked among the world’s best in 14 subjects, including a place in the global top 100 for computer science, chemical engineering, civil and structural engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, materials sciences, and art and design.

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California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Retaining fifth place in the overall world ranking this year is California Institute of Technology, commonly known as Caltech, located in the city of Pasadena, California. The smallest US university in the top 10, Caltech punches above its weight – particularly in scientific and technical subjects.

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Harvard University

Harvard University concludes the uninterrupted trio of US universities at the top of the QS World University Rankings this year. Harvard is the oldest university in the US, dating back to 1636, and achieved the top position for life sciences and medicine in the QS World University Rankings by Faculty 2015.

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Stanford University

Climbing one place this year to overtake Harvard, Stanford University ranks second in the world in the 2016-2017 tables. Located in the heart of the famous Silicon Valley, Stanford University and is particularly well-known for its business courses – with an alumni community full of successful entrepreneurs.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tops the QS World University Rankings 2016-2017, placing 1st for the fifth year running. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT is of course known for its physical sciences and engineering, but is also increasingly well-respected for other subject areas in the social sciences, arts and humanities.

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National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE, Moscow)

Concluding our list of the 10 top universities in Russia is the Higher School of Economics (HSE), which is also the youngest university in this list, founded as recently as 1992. It was awarded National Research University status in 2009 and specializes in the social sciences, mathematics, computer science and of course economics. Ranked 62nd in BRICS, its main campus can be found in Moscow, with three other campuses located in St. Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod and Perm.

The Higher School of Economics is internationally ranked for eight subjects this year, achieving positions as one of the world’s top 150 universities for economics and econometrics, politics and sociology, with three more subjects in the top 200.

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Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University features at 61st in the BRICS ranking this year and is consistently ranked among the top 500 in the world university rankings. Located in St. Petersburg, it’s a large university, with almost 31,000 students currently enrolled. It houses one of the country's most advanced research laboratories in hydro-aerodynamics, and has 20 research centers in total, which conduct research with prominent technology corporations such as Microsoft, Siemens and Apple.

St. Petersburg Polytechnic University is included three times in the latest subject rankings, ranked as one of the world’s leading universities for electrical and electronic engineering (top 250), physics and astronomy (top 300) and computer science and information systems (top 500).

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National Research Nuclear University "Mephi" (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute)

Ranked 50th in BRICS, the National Research Nuclear University, or “MEPhI” was founded in 1942 as the Moscow Mechanical Institute of Munitions and is now another of the most well-respected technical Russian universities. As the name suggests, it focuses on the nuclear industry, as well as physics, engineering and mathematics. However, the institute, which counts a number of Nobel Prize winners amongst its alumni, has also been increasingly working on improving its programs in the fields of economic sciences, humanities and foreign languages.

National Research Nuclear University is internationally ranked for three subjects this year – physics and astronomy (top 100), electrical and electronic engineering (top 300) and mathematics (in the worldwide top 400).

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Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology State University

Another of the top universities in Russia to be located in Moscow, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, colloquially known as PhysTech, is ranked joint 47th in the BRICS ranking this year. It was established in 1946 and is a leading institution for educating specialists in various fields of modern science and technology, and today has a fairly small student body of 5,600 students in 11 faculties. Eight of its professors are Nobel Prize winners.

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) features among the world’s best for five subjects this year – all of which are, unsurprisingly, science subjects. Its highest position comes for physics and astronomy, in the global top 150.

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Moscow State Institute of International Relations – MGIMO University

Moscow State Institute of International Relations – MGIMO University is ranked 44th in the BRICS ranking this year and is consistently ranked within the top 400 universities in the world. Run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, MGIMO University was previously part of Moscow State University but became a separate institution in 1944. MGIMO specializes mainly in the humanities and, although it doesn’t feature in the subject rankings, the university is particularly well known for preparing students for careers in international relations. The university also holds the distinction of appearing in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering courses in 56 languages, more than any other institution in the world.

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Tomsk State University

Heading back to Siberia for the next of these top universities in Russia, Tomsk State University comes 43rd in this year’s BRICS. Founded in 1878 but not opened to students until 1888, it’s the oldest institution in the vast ‘Russian Asia’ area. It now has around 17,000 students enrolled in 23 faculties, and offers 165 master’s programs, including some English-taught courses. Tomsk State University was designated as a National Research University in 2010 and offers its students one of the most extensive library archives of all Russian universities.

In this year’s subject rankings, Tomsk State University is ranked among the top 300 universities in the world for modern languages, and among the top 400 for physics and astronomy.

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Bauman Moscow State Technical University

Bauman Moscow State Technical University comes 38th in this year’s BRICS ranking and is the oldest and largest of the technical Russian universities. It has 19 departments but specializes in various fields of engineering and applied sciences, and teaches more than 19,000 students at all study levels. Bauman Moscow State Technical University is also known for granting up to 3,000 students free room and board in its halls of residence each year, as well as offering well-regarded support for hearing-impaired students.

The university’s technical focus is reflected in its performance in the subject rankings – it’s ranked among the world’s best for five subjects in 2016 (compared to just one in 2015). Its highest ranked subject is mechanical engineering, for which it’s placed in the global top 200. 

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