An annual report into the world’s finest universities has included 11 Scottish institutions in its top 1,000, with the University of Edinburgh leading the way in 27th place.
The QS World University Rankings 2025 were released this week, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topping the table with a perfect 100 points out of 100, followed by Imperial College London, the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the University of Cambridge.
Over 1,500 universities across 105 higher education systems were included in the rankings, the 21st year they have been carried out.
The results of draw on the analysis 17.5m academic papers and the expert opinions of over 240,000 academic faculty and employers, taking a variety of factors into account including sustainablility, employment outcomes and the establishment’s international research network.
Here are the 11 Scottish universities to crack thje top 1,000 - and where they placed.
1. University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Univesity is Scotland's top university according to the QS World University Rankings 2025. It comes 27th place in the world, with a total of 83.3 points. | Canva/Getty Images
2. University of Glasgow
Glasgow University takes second spot in Scotland, and 75th in the world. It was awarded 65 points out of 100. | Canva/Getty Images
3. St Andrews University
St Andrews University comes in at 104th place in the world. It scores a total of 59.2 points out of a possible 100. | Canva/Getty Images
4. University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen scores 42.3 out of 100 according to the rankings. That makes it the joint 236th best university on the planet. | Canva/Getty IMAGES