York continues to rise in world university rankings
Posted on Thursday 18 June 2026
The 2027 league table, published today by higher education analysts QS, also places York 24th in the UK out of 93 ranked institutions, up one spot from last year. The University has gained 26 places in the global standings over a two-year period.
The rankings are a framework that rates universities around a number of key areas, including academic reputation, employability and outcomes, global engagement, learning experience and sustainability.
Employer reputation
A key driver behind York’s upward trajectory was an 80-place surge in its global Employer Reputation rank. The metric, which accounts for 15% of the overall ranking score, evaluates how effectively institutions prepare graduates for the workforce based on responses from global employers.
Progress was also recorded in the table’s most heavily weighted metric, Academic Reputation (30%), where York climbed 11 places.
The University's strongest individual area was Sustainability, where York ranked 40th in the world. It also ranked highly for its international research network, which highlights how well the university collaborates with academic partners across the globe.
Skills and readiness
Vice-Chancellor Professor Charlie Jeffery said: “It’s brilliant to see the hard work of our community reflected in this year’s QS rankings, especially when it comes to academic reputation and how employers regard our students.
“These rankings remain an important benchmark, particularly for international students seeking institutions that combine a rigorous academic environment with strong global career prospects. The significant improvement in our employer reputation confirms that industries around the world recognise the skills and readiness of York graduates.
“We are always proud to be recognised among the world's best universities and it’s rewarding to see York continuing its upward trajectory in these latest rankings.”
Full details can be found on the QS Top Universities website.
York is also one of only four UK universities to be rated both Gold for teaching and top ten for research in the latest national assessment exercises.
