The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, founded in 2004, provide the definitive list of the world's best universities, evaluated across teaching, research, international outlook, reputation and more. THE's data are trusted by governments and universities and are a vital resource for students, helping them choose where to study.
The Time's Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017 list the 980 top universities in the world, making it our biggest international league table to date.
This year's list of the best universities is led by a UK University for the first time in the 12-year history of the table; the University Of Oxford is the world's number one university, knocking five-time champion, the California Institute Of Technology (Caltech) into second place.
It is the first time a US institution does not take the first spot. However, the North American powerhouse still dominates the list with 148 universities in the top 980 and 63 in the top 200.
The rest of the top five is by Stanford University in the third, the University of Cambridge in fourth, and Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT) in fifth.
Top 25 Universities-THE World University Rankings 2016- 2017
Rank | Name | Location | No. of FTE students | International Students |
1 | University Of Oxford | United Kingdom | 19,718 | 35% |
2 | California Institute Of Technology | The United States | 2,181 | 27% |
3 | Stanford University | The United States | 15,658 | 22% |
4 | University Of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 18,605 | 35% |
5 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | The United States | 11,192 | 34% |
6 | Harvard University | The United States | 19,890 | 25% |
7 | Princeton University | The United States | 7,925 | 34% |
8 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom | 15,236 | 52% |
9 | ETH Zurich- Swiss Federal Institute Of Technology Zurich | Switzerland | 18,616 | 37% |
10 | University Of California, Berkeley | The United States | 34,834 | 16% |
11 | University Of Chicago | The United States | 13,486 | 24% |
12 | Yale University | The United States | 11,946 | 21% |
13 | University Of Pennysylvania | The United States | 20,367 | 20% |
14 | University Of California Los Angeles | The United States | 38,392 | 16% |
15 | University College London | United Kingdom | 28,602 | 47% |
16 | Columbia University | The United States | 25,659 | 30% |
17 | Johns Hopkins University | The United States | 15,303 | 24% |
18 | Duke University | The United States | 15,204 | 17% |
19 | Cornell University | The United States | 21,593 | 20% |
20 | Northwestern University | The United States | 18,570 | 16% |
21 | University Of MIchigan | The United States | 41,912 | 16% |
22 | University Of Toronto | Canada | 68,093 | 16% |
23 | Carnegie Mellon University | The United States | 12,311 | 38% |
24 | National University Of Singapore | Singapore | 31,111 | 32% |
25 | London School Of Economics & Political Science | United KIngdom | 9,401 | 70% |