The QS World University Rankings are published by QS Quacquarelli Symonds. From 2004 to 2009 QS and Times Higher Education produced a joint ranking, the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) rankings. Since 2010 each publishes its own: QS continues the series as the QS World University Rankings, while Times Higher Education built a new ranking. This note summarises the current QS methodology for staff who prepare ranking data.
Current indicators and weights
QS's methodology table lists nine weighted indicators. The weights below are those published by QS on its methodology page.
| Indicator | Weight |
|---|---|
| Academic Reputation | 30% |
| Employer Reputation | 15% |
| Citations per Faculty | 20% |
| Faculty Student Ratio | 10% |
| International Faculty Ratio | 5% |
| International Student Ratio | 5% |
| International Research Network | 5% |
| Employment Outcomes | 5% |
| Sustainability | 5% |
According to QS Insights, the 2027 methodology is unchanged from the previous edition, and the nine-indicator framework dates from the 2024 edition, which added Sustainability, Employment Outcomes and International Research Network. Before that edition QS used six indicators. Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation, 45% of the total together, are built from QS's surveys of academics and employers.
Reading QS edition years
QS names each edition by the year after its publication: the edition published in June 2026 is the QS World University Rankings 2027. Since June 2017, when QS began labelling editions this way, earlier years have been renamed accordingly, so a "ranking 2015" published before the change is now cited as 2016. Check the edition label before comparing results across years.
Scale of the 2027 edition
QS says the 2027 edition covers more than 1,500 universities across 106 higher education systems, with MIT first for the 15th consecutive year.
UTM, as reported
- La Presse reports that UTM rose to 655th place in the QS World University Rankings 2027 (June 2026) and kept first place in Tunisia and the Maghreb. It also reports 289th place for the International Research Network indicator.
- For the 2026 edition, L'Economiste Maghrebin reported in June 2025 that UTM was among the 731 best universities, up 40 places.
- In the QS 2026 subject rankings, La Presse reported in March 2026 that UTM placed 14 subjects and ranked first in Tunisia in all of them.
More results are on the Results page. See also the notes on ARWU (Shanghai) and Times Higher Education.
Sources
- QS Support: QS World University Rankings (indicator weights)
- QS Insights Magazine: QS World University Rankings 2027
- QS: World's Best Universities Revealed (QS World University Rankings 2027)
- La Presse: UTM in the QS World University Rankings 2027
- L'Economiste Maghrebin: UTM in the QS World University Rankings 2026
- La Presse: QS 2026 subject rankings, Tunis El Manar leads 14 subjects nationally