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Two UK universities are in the top 10 best in the world, according to a brand-new ranking

According to the highly respected Academic Ranking of World Universities 2024, two British unis are among the finest on the planet

India Lawrence
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India Lawrence
Contributing writer
The Bridge of Sighs at the University of Oxford in the UK
Photograph: Mistervlad / Shutterstock.com
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Every year, the world’s elite universities compete to be named the best on the planet. Rankings take into account all sorts of things, from student satisfaction and the quality of research to the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes. Now a new university ranking has just dropped, naming the 100 best unis in the world.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has revealed its 2024 list, and two UK institutions made it into the top 10.

Harvard University was named the world’s best by the ARWU for the 22nd year in a row, but two institutions from England gave it a run for its money. This will come as a surprise to no one, but the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were ranked in the top 10 in the world.

Despite American universities dominating the list, a few more UK unis also made it into the top rankings. Also making it into the top 50 from the UK was UCL in 16th place, Imperial College London in 25th, and the the University of Edinburgh at number 40. 

The 10 best universities in the world

  1. Harvard University
  2. Stanford University
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  4. University of Cambridge
  5. University of California, Berkeley
  6. University of Oxford
  7. Princeton University
  8. Columbia University
  9. California Institute of Technology
  10. University of Chicago

You can read more about the ARWU’s full global ranking here.

More higher education on Time Out  

Here’s what the Academic Ranking of World Universities named the 20 best unis in Europe. And this is what QS named the best universities in the world for 2025. And what do the students actually think? Here’s what real students ranked the UK’s best unis for student satisfaction

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