In June 2025, London (the United Kingdom, UK) based global higher education analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released the latest edition of ‘QS World University Rankings 2026’.  As per the latest rankings, New Delhi (Delhi) based Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) has been ranked 1st among Indian universities featured on the list. It has improved its ranking significantly by 70 places over two years, to 123rd spot (in 2026) with an overall score of 65.5 compared to 150th (in 2025) and 197th (in 2024). IIT-D is placed along Georgia Institute of Technology based in the United States of America (USA).
- IIT-D’s latest ranking is due to its exceptional performance in various categories: Employer Reputation (50th), Citations (86th), Sustainability (172nd) and Academic Reputation (142nd).
- Cambridge (the USA) based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has topped the list globally for the 14th time (2012 and from 2014 to 2026), with overall score of 100. It is followed by Imperial College London based in London (the United Kingdom, UK) (score 99.4) and USA based Stanford University (98.9) ranked at 2nd and 3rd spot on the list, respectively.
About QS World University Rankings 2026:
i.This is the 22nd edition of QS World University Rankings which featured over 1,500 world’s top universities, with over 106 locations represented around the world.
ii.It is based on data from more than 16 million academic papers and insights from over 151,000 academics and 100,000 employers.
Methodology:
i.The QS World Rankings uses a structured approach to evaluate institutions worldwide.
ii.Each ranking is based on set of measurements that help assess various aspects of university performance. These measurements are mainly classified into 3 categories:
- Lens: A group of indicators connected by a common theme such as research & discovery.
- Indicator: A specific area of performance like: Citations per faculty or Employer reputation. Institutions are scored and ranked on each indicator.
- Metric: A detailed calculation within an indicator, used to generate accurate scores.
iii.Weightage of each performance lens and indicator used for the latest rankings are:
- Research and Discovery (50%): It further comprises two indicators such as Academic Reputation (30%) and Citations per Faculty (20%).
- Employability and Outcomes (20%): It consist two indicators Employer Reputation (15%) and Employment Outcomes (5%).
- Global Engagement (15%): It has 4 indicators i.e. International Faculty Ratio (5%), International Research Network (5%), International Student Diversity (0%) and International Student Ratio (5%).
- Learning Experience (10%): It comprises only one indicator, Faculty Student Ratio (10%).
- Sustainability (5%): It comprises only indicator, Sustainability (5%).
Top 5 Universities in QS World University Rankings 2026:
| Rank | Name of the University | Country | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | Cambridge (the United States of America, USA) | 100 |
| 2 | Imperial College London London, UK | London (the United Kingdom, UK) | 99.4 |
| 3 | Stanford University | Stanford, (USA) | 98.9 |
| 4 | University of Oxford | UK | 97.9 |
| 5 | Harvard University | Cambridge, (USA) | 97.7 |
Top 5 Indian Institutes in QS World University Rankings 2026:
| Indian Rank | Name of the University | Location | Global Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) | New Delhi, Delhi | 123 |
| 2 | Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) | Mumbai, Maharashtra | 129 |
| 3 | Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN) | 180 |
| 4 | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) | Kharagpur, West Bengal (WB) | 215 |
| 5 | Indian Institute of Science (IISc) | Bengaluru, Karnataka | 219 |
Key Highlights:
i.Other top 10 universities are: UK based University of Cambridge (6th), Switzerland based ETH Zurich (7th), Singapore based National University of Singapore (NUS) (8th), UK based UCL (9th) and the USA based California Institute of Technology (CIT)(10th).
ii.The USA with 192 universities, again emerged as the most represented country on the 2026 rankings, followed by UK (90) and Mainland China (72).
- Jordan and Azerbaijan are 2nd most improved countries and have both witnessed 6 added in latest rankings.
iii.With 565 universities, Asia has topped in terms of maximum number of universities from any region featured on this year’s list, followed by Europe (487), Americas (358), Africa (47), and Oceania (44).
- Asia has shown strong progress in the QS Rankings 2026—Peking University holds its 14th position, China based Tsinghua University has moved up to 17th, and China based Fudan University has climbed to 30th place.
iv.Malaysia based Sunway University, is the biggest climber in 2026 rankings as it has improved its ranking by over 120 places, to 410th rank (in 2026).
vi.A total of 112 institutions debuted in 2026 rankings. Among these new institutions, the newly merged Adelaide University (Australia) emerged as the top performer, by securing 82nd spot globally.
Indian-Specific:
i.This year, a total of 54 universities, including 12 IITs from India (up from 46 universities in 2025), are featured on the list, thereby, making India the 4th most represented country.
- With this, the number of India’s ranked universities have increased 5-times over the last 10 years i.e. from 11 (2015) to 54 (2026). This makes India the fastest-rising Group-20 (G20) country in the rankings.
ii.Only 3 IITs i.e. IIT-D; Mumbai (Maharashtra) based IIT-Bombay (IIT-B) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu, TN) IIT-Madras (IIT-M) made into the list of world’s top 200 universities.
- This for the 1st time that IIT-M entered into the top 200 universities, jumping by 27 places to secure 180th spot.
- While, IIT-B witnessed a drop in its overall ranking, from 118th (2025) to 129th (2026).
iii.A total of 8 Indian institutions debuted in 2026 rankings and these are:
- Gujarat based IIT Gandhinagar (IIT-G) (rank 801-850);
- Jalandhar (Punjab) based Lovely Professional University (LPU) (rank 901-950),
- Bhubaneswar (Odisha) based Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT)(rank 1001-1200),
- Sonipat (Haryana) based Ashoka University (rank 1201-1400),
- Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh, UP) based Galgotias University (rank 1201-1400),
- Shiv Nadar University (1201-1400),
- CHRIST (Deemed to be University) (rank 1401+),
- Bengaluru, and Faridabad (Haryana) based Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (MRIIRS) (rank 1401+).
iv.Out of 46 Indian universities featured in 2025 rankings, nearly 50% of them has improved their rankings this year.
- This year’s list further revealed that 48% of India’s ranked universities improved their rankings compared to last year.
v.6 of India’s 11 Indian institutes of eminence (including both private and public) have improved their rankings compared to last year.
- Also, India’s all 3 private institute of eminence have improved their positions, with only 2 private universities: Bajhol (Himachal Pradesh, HP) Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (503rd) and Punjab based Chandigarh University (CU) (575th), ahead of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), ranked at 668th spot.
Other Key Findings:
i.This year, 5 Indian institutions featured in the world’s top 100 in the indicator category of ‘employer reputation’.
- Also, 8 Indian universities featured among the world’s top 100 in the indicator category of ‘Citations per Faculty’, with average score of 43.7 which is higher than that of Germany, the UK and the USA.
ii.Despite India having the 11th lowest average score in ‘employment outcomes’, 2 Indian universities are in the top 100, of which, University of Delhi (DU) is one of them.
iii.India’s top two highest-ranked institutions i.e. IIT-D and IIT-B, performed better compared to more than 91% of institutions featured in the 2026 rankings.
About QS (Quacquarelli Symonds):
President-Â Nunzio Quacquarelli
Headquarters- London, the United Kingdom (UK)
Established – 1990
