THE World University Rankings 2026: The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026 were released on Thursday, confirming the University of Oxford as world number one for the tenth year in succession. The UK university dominates in research, teaching, and international reputation on a global scale. Students can check the full list at timeshighereducation.com.
Global Higher Education Landscape
The United States remains dominant in the top 10, with MIT (2nd), Princeton (3rd), Harvard (5th), and Stanford (5th) taking top positions, although some have fallen from the position they held last year. The UK continues to fare well with Cambridge (3rd) and Imperial College London (8th) in the top 10.
THE World University Rankings 2026 | Official Website
Asia's leading institutions, such as Tsinghua University (12th), Peking University (13th), and the National University of Singapore (17th), are still relatively unchanged. In spite of a decade-long advance by Chinese universities, the top 200 still contains 13 universities, with no signs of change over the past years.
Indian Universities Fail to Break into Top 100
No Indian university appears in the top 100, though the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore moves into the 201–250 range, maintaining its status as India's highest-ranked institution. Other Indian universities have varying performance:
Top-Ranked Indian Universities in THE World University Rankings 2026:
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore: Rank 201–250
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences: Rank 351–400
Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI): Rank 401–500
Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences: Rank 401–500
Banaras Hindu University (BHU): Rank 501–600
IIT Indore: Rank 501–600
Lovely Professional University (LPU): Rank 501–600
Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU): Rank 501–600
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES): Rank 501–600
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU): Rank 601–800
