THE World University Rankings 2025: Oxford University remains at top for ninth consecutive year

Oxford University is the topmost university in the world as per the World University Rankings 2025. It was followed by US universities -Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University respectively.

Study Abroad: Oxford University has again been placed at number one in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025. The university has been number one since 2017.

Professor Irene Tracey, CBE, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford, said, "I am absolutely delighted that we have consolidated our position at the top of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for a ninth consecutive year. This achievement is a testament to our extraordinarily talented and committed academics, researchers and staff, who deliver exceptional standards of teaching and learning and conduct globally impactful research. Above all, I am indebted to all of my colleagues at Oxford whose work continues to fire our imaginations, inspire generations, and confront some of the greatest challenges facing our planet."

Phil Baty, THE's Chief Global Affairs Officer, said, "The Times Higher Education World University Rankings evaluate the performance of the leading global research-intensive universities – and it is the truly global nature of Oxford’s work that has helped it to retain the world number one position for a record-breaking nine years. Oxford excels across our wide range of performance indicators, covering teaching, research and industry collaboration, but it stands above its world-leading counterparts in the US for the depth of its international research collaborations and its ability to draw in international talent. Oxford is truly a beacon for global Britain."

MIT, Harvard at Second and Third places at World University Rankings 2025

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been placed in the second position followed by Harvard University which was in the third position in the latest ranking. MIT's rankings have been improving since 2016. MIT is a coeducational, independent private research university in the US. The second position is MIT's best-ever performance to date. MIT has replaced Stanford in this place which has now come down to sixth position from second.

Metrics Which Decides THE Releases World University Rankings

The rankings are released based on 18 metrics incorporated into five ‘pillars’ including research excellence; the teaching environment; research environment (including income and reputation data); industry and international outlook (such as research collaboration).

It is a rigorous process to list these universities. This year the rankings were released after assessing 2,800 leading research universities, and an academic survey. Moreover, 150 million citations from 18 million research papers were analyzed.

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