Imperial reaffirms place among world’s best universities

Imperial College London has been recognised as one of the world’s top universities in a leading global league table.

Imperial has maintained its position in the QS World University Rankings for 2024. Ranking sixth in the world, this puts Imperial third in the UK and top in London.

Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, said: “This result confirms that Imperial is one of the best universities in the world, and is a testament to our brilliant, diverse community, our global outlook, and the spirit of innovation that runs through everything we do.

“These same qualities define the best of London, and the rankings show, once again, that the capital is the place to be – nurturing top talent from across London and the UK, and acting as a magnet for the best students and researchers from across the globe.”

"This result confirms that Imperial is one of the best universities in the world, and is a testament to our brilliant, diverse community" Professor Hugh Brady President, Imperial College London

This year is the twentieth edition of the highly influential QS Rankings – which has seen Imperial maintain its top 10 position for the past 12 years.

Imperial was also placed among the world’s top 10 universities in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 and was named University of the Year by the Guardian University Guide 2023.

International focus

For 2024, the QS Rankings introduced new methodologies and metrics including, for the first time, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘International Research Network’.  

Imperial is actively strengthening ties with partners in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America to solve major challenges including climate change.

For example, in May, Imperial and the University of Tokyo announced a major new strategic relationship for cleantech and energy research, at a UK-Japan business forum ahead of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima.

This year’s QS Rankings was also notable for the rise of African universities, with 75% of institutes on the continent showing improvement. Earlier this year, Imperial launched a new scholarship programme to support PhD students from sub-Saharan Africa and is running a collaborative Africa Seed Fund to kick-start innovative research partnerships between Imperial academics and counterparts from Africa.

Recent successes 

Whilst the latest QS Rankings is important recognition, Imperial’s Strategy places a clear focus on achieving enduring excellence in research and education for the benefit of society.

Indeed, the latest rankings follows a series of achievements for the College over the past couple of years, including its best-ever results in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) and a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of pioneering work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most recently it was announced that Imperial will lead a £23 million network of world-leading wind tunnels to address societal and industrial grand challenges including the next generation of net zero technologies.

Earlier this year, the College launched its new I-X initiative to tackle global challenges with artificial intelligence (AI) and data science. Its projects include developing new computational tools for improving image-based detection and diagnosis of disease, using AI to direct the design and implementation of new biological systems.