The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027 were released on 30 September 2026. The University of Oxford is first for a record 11th year, and Singapore has NUS at 15th and NTU at 28th. The top 10 is still made up only of US and UK universities.
Two quick clarifications. THE names each edition one year ahead, so the “2027” edition came out in September 2026. And this is the THE World table of 2,297 institutions, not the regional THE Asia University Rankings.
Top 50 universities in the world: THE 2027 table
All 50 universities ranked 50th or better are below, with their overall and pillar scores, and their rank in the 2026 and 2025 editions side by side. Click any column heading to sort; Singapore's universities are highlighted. “=” marks a tied rank. The top 10 is made up only of US and UK universities, as THE's analysis notes.
| 1 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 97.9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 97.1 | 100.0 | 96.8 | 99.9 | 95.8 |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | United States | 97.8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 99.1 | 96.5 | 99.4 | 100.0 | 90.9 |
| =3 | Princeton University | United States | 97.0 | 0 | =3 | 4 | 97.4 | 98.1 | 98.4 | 97.2 | 85.3 |
| =3 | Stanford University | United States | 97.0 | ▲ 2 | =5 | 6 | 96.4 | 98.3 | 99.3 | 100.0 | 83.4 |
| 5 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 96.9 | ▼ 2 | =3 | 5 | 96.5 | 99.9 | 96.0 | 87.1 | 95.8 |
| 6 | Harvard University | United States | 96.7 | ▼ 1 | =5 | 3 | 95.3 | 100.0 | 98.5 | 84.0 | 88.5 |
| 7 | California Institute of Technology | United States | 96.5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 96.9 | 98.2 | 95.9 | 100.0 | 88.8 |
| 8 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom | 95.2 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 92.0 | 96.1 | 97.1 | 92.0 | 97.7 |
| =9 | University of California, Berkeley | United States | 94.3 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 87.4 | 99.4 | 98.3 | 99.2 | 83.2 |
| =9 | Yale University | United States | 94.3 | ▲ 1 | 10 | 10 | 93.5 | 96.3 | 96.7 | 90.0 | 81.9 |
| 11 | Tsinghua University | China | 93.9 | ▲ 1 | 12 | 12 | 96.0 | 99.3 | 94.1 | 100.0 | 60.6 |
| 12 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland | 93.6 | ▼ 1 | 11 | 11 | 89.3 | 98.3 | 94.4 | 85.0 | 94.2 |
| 13 | Peking University | China | 92.8 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 95.3 | 98.8 | 89.7 | 100.0 | 67.8 |
| 14 | University of Pennsylvania | United States | 91.5 | 0 | 14 | =14 | 89.7 | 92.2 | 95.5 | 94.6 | 78.1 |
| 15 | National University of Singapore | Singapore | 91.1 | ▲ 2 | 17 | 17 | 80.9 | 95.3 | 95.4 | 100.0 | 93.3 |
| 16 | The University of Chicago | United States | 90.7 | ▼ 1 | 15 | =14 | 88.3 | 92.4 | 95.9 | 75.9 | 79.9 |
| =17 | Johns Hopkins University | United States | 90.3 | ▼ 1 | 16 | 16 | 84.7 | 92.0 | 95.1 | 100.0 | 81.4 |
| =17 | UCL | United Kingdom | 90.3 | ▲ 5 | 22 | =22 | 83.6 | 89.9 | 97.7 | 75.2 | 96.8 |
| 19 | Columbia University | United States | 90.0 | ▲ 1 | 20 | =18 | 88.2 | 90.5 | 94.9 | 76.5 | 83.4 |
| 20 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States | 89.9 | ▼ 2 | =18 | =18 | 86.1 | 93.7 | 95.0 | 91.6 | 68.1 |
| 21 | Cornell University | United States | 89.5 | ▼ 3 | =18 | 20 | 86.1 | 91.7 | 94.7 | 70.6 | 83.7 |
| 22 | University of Toronto | Canada | 89.1 | ▼ 1 | 21 | 21 | 79.6 | 94.8 | 91.3 | 97.5 | 91.3 |
| 23 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States | 87.1 | 0 | 23 | =22 | 85.8 | 89.0 | 92.9 | 79.2 | 66.2 |
| 24 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States | 85.9 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 73.9 | 84.1 | 99.1 | 90.4 | 84.7 |
| 25 | Technical University of Munich | Germany | 85.1 | ▲ 2 | 27 | 26 | 73.3 | 86.7 | 92.6 | 100.0 | 86.4 |
| 26 | University of Washington | United States | 84.6 | ▼ 1 | 25 | 25 | 79.0 | 83.0 | 96.1 | 78.0 | 69.8 |
| 27 | The University of Tokyo | Japan | 84.3 | ▼ 1 | 26 | 28 | 94.5 | 96.1 | 68.8 | 100.0 | 51.6 |
| 28 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore | 84.0 | ▲ 3 | =31 | 30 | 69.4 | 82.2 | 95.6 | 100.0 | 93.9 |
| =29 | New York University (NYU) | United States | 83.5 | ▲ 2 | =31 | 33 | 76.6 | 82.7 | 92.4 | 75.7 | 81.3 |
| =29 | Northwestern University | United States | 83.5 | ▲ 1 | 30 | 31 | 74.3 | 79.5 | 96.5 | 98.8 | 74.5 |
| =29 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 83.5 | 0 | 29 | 29 | 75.6 | 78.4 | 94.8 | 72.2 | 95.2 |
| 32 | Duke University | United States | 83.4 | ▼ 4 | 28 | 27 | 77.6 | 77.5 | 94.9 | 100.0 | 74.8 |
| 33 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 82.6 | 0 | 33 | 35 | 72.4 | 75.4 | 94.2 | 97.8 | 95.6 |
| =34 | University of Melbourne | Australia | 80.9 | ▲ 3 | 37 | 39 | 70.9 | 78.9 | 87.9 | 99.5 | 90.6 |
| =34 | Zhejiang University | China | 80.9 | ▲ 5 | 39 | =47 | 78.7 | 82.7 | 85.7 | 100.0 | 53.6 |
| 36 | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | Switzerland | 80.5 | ▼ 1 | 35 | 32 | 73.6 | 75.0 | 86.3 | 99.9 | 94.7 |
| 37 | University of California, San Diego | United States | 80.3 | ▲ 10 | 47 | 34 | 67.5 | 76.7 | 96.3 | 100.0 | 70.3 |
| 38 | Fudan University | China | 80.2 | ▼ 2 | 36 | =36 | 78.7 | 78.5 | 86.7 | 99.9 | 56.6 |
| 39 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China | 80.0 | ▲ 1 | 40 | 52 | 77.6 | 82.0 | 83.2 | 100.0 | 58.4 |
| 40 | King’s College London | United Kingdom | 79.3 | ▼ 2 | 38 | =36 | 65.4 | 73.4 | 95.3 | 74.3 | 95.7 |
| 41 | LMU Munich | Germany | 78.7 | ▼ 7 | 34 | 38 | 65.4 | 76.3 | 92.2 | 100.0 | 75.0 |
| 42 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 77.8 | ▼ 1 | =41 | 44 | 64.8 | 64.7 | 97.8 | 91.6 | 92.2 |
| 43 | McGill University | Canada | 77.7 | ▼ 2 | =41 | 45 | 71.0 | 73.5 | 86.1 | 78.1 | 87.3 |
| 44 | University of British Columbia | Canada | 77.6 | ▲ 1 | 45 | 41 | 64.4 | 76.9 | 87.5 | 78.0 | 92.2 |
| =45 | KU Leuven | Belgium | 77.5 | ▲ 1 | 46 | 43 | 62.2 | 75.0 | 91.3 | 100.0 | 79.8 |
| =45 | Universität Heidelberg | Germany | 77.5 | ▲ 4 | 49 | =47 | 66.0 | 68.2 | 95.2 | 99.9 | 76.1 |
| 47 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom | 77.3 | ▲ 5 | 52 | =50 | 61.5 | 74.7 | 95.3 | 48.2 | 92.8 |
| 48 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States | 77.1 | ▼ 7 | =41 | 46 | 67.9 | 81.0 | 85.0 | 83.8 | 63.2 |
| 49 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States | 77.0 | ▼ 8 | =41 | 40 | 62.6 | 77.5 | 87.6 | 93.9 | 80.2 |
| 50 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands | 76.5 | ▲ 7 | 57 | =56 | 66.3 | 78.8 | 77.7 | 100.0 | 91.0 |
Source: THE World University Rankings 2027 , 2026 and 2025 tables; each rank is taken from that edition's own table, matching universities by name where THE has changed an institution's identifier between editions (NYU is the one case here). “vs 2026” is the 2026 rank minus the 2027 rank (▲ = moved up).
Biggest movers against 2026 within the top 50: up — University of California, San Diego (47 to 37, ▲ 10); Delft University of Technology (57 to 50, ▲ 7); UCL (22 to =17, ▲ 5). Down — Georgia Institute of Technology (=41 to 49, ▼ 8); LMU Munich (34 to 41, ▼ 7); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (=41 to 48, ▼ 7).
“In first place for a record 11th consecutive year is the University of Oxford, but it was ahead of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by the slimmest of margins, with historic incumbents apparently at a tipping point across the board.”
Where Singapore stands in THE 2027
Three institutions in Singapore appear in THE's 2027 World University Rankings table.
- NUS: 15th (was 17th; overall 91.1). THE says three Asian universities are in the top 15 for the first time. Full analysis: NUS Times Higher Education ranking history.
- NTU: 28th (was joint 31st; overall 84.0). THE says its advance was driven by strong increases in reputation. Full analysis: NTU Times Higher Education ranking history.
- SUTD: 301–325 band (overall 53.4–54.8), in the 2027 edition only; it is not listed in 2025 or 2026. THE shows precise ranks only for the top 300 this year (top 200 last year), so universities below that are banded.
SMU, SIT and SUSS are not listedin THE's World University Rankings tables for 2025, 2026 or 2027. We checked every row of each table, including universities listed without a rank.
Why a log scale: ranks in the hundreds and ranks in the teens share this chart, and a log axis gives each doubling the same height, so the recent gap between the two stays readable.
A note on SMU
SMU's own About page (checked 1 October 2026) describes it this way: “Singapore Management University (SMU) is Asia’s premier global city university at the nexus of management, social sciences and technology.” It says it teaches through six schools and two colleges, including the School of Accountancy, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, School of Economics, School of Computing and Information Systems, Yong Pung How School of Law and School of Social Sciences. Source: smu.edu.sg/about .
In our reading, that makes SMU a specialised university focused on business, accountancy, economics, law, computing and social sciences, rather than a comprehensive research university. It plays in a different league, so we do not compare it with NUS or NTU on this overall table. It is simply not listed; we have not found a source that says why, so we do not offer a reason. See our SMU in the specialist universities ranking analysis and the SMU guide.
Choosing between Singapore universities is a different question from reading a league table; our NUS vs NTU vs SMU: which fits you guide covers courses and admission, and the 2027 update adds the latest figures.
Asian universities in the 2027 World top 50
TenAsian universities are in the top 50. THE's results article says Tsinghua University “overtook Switzerland’s ETH Zurich for 11th place, just missing out on a spot in the top 10.” For the regional table, read THE Asia University Rankings.
| 1 | 11 | Tsinghua University | China | 93.9 | 12 |
| 2 | 13 | Peking University | China | 92.8 | 13 |
| 3 | 15 | National University of Singapore | Singapore | 91.1 | 17 |
| 4 | 27 | The University of Tokyo | Japan | 84.3 | 26 |
| 5 | 28 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore | 84.0 | =31 |
| 6 | 33 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 82.6 | 33 |
| 7 | =34 | Zhejiang University | China | 80.9 | 39 |
| 8 | 38 | Fudan University | China | 80.2 | 36 |
| 9 | 39 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China | 80.0 | 40 |
| 10 | 42 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 77.8 | =41 |
Source: THE World University Rankings 2027 table . “Asian” here follows our country grouping (East, South-East and South Asia, plus Middle East); every university shown is in China, Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore.
What changed in the Times Higher Education ranking for 2027
- Bigger table. 2,297 institutions from 118 countries and territories, against 2,191 and 115 in 2026 and 2,092 and 115 in 2025.
- Precise ranks for more universities. Precise ranks and overall scores are shown for the top 300, up from the top 200 last year. That is why SUTD appears as a 301–325 band.
- Same five pillars, 17 indicators. Teaching 29.5%, Research Environment 29%, Research Quality 30%, International Outlook 7.5% and Industry 4%. The pillars were renamed under WUR 3.0 from the 2024 edition, so scores before and after that change are not like-for-like. Source: THE 2027 methodology .
“And although the 2027 edition of the ranking still has an exclusively US and UK top 10, Asia is rising again.”
“With the National University of Singapore (NUS) also moving up two spots to 15th, there are three Asian universities in the top 15 for the first time.”
Frequently asked questions
Which university is the best in the world in THE 2027?
The University of Oxford. THE ranks it first in the World University Rankings 2027 for a record 11th consecutive year, ahead of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by the slimmest of margins: the overall score gap is 0.1 (Oxford 97.9, MIT 97.8 on THE's table).
What is the no. 1 ranked university in the world?
In Times Higher Education's 2027 edition, the no. 1 university is the University of Oxford, followed by MIT in second place, with Princeton and Stanford tied for third. Other ranking systems use different methods and can put a different university first.
What are the top 25 global universities in THE 2027?
By THE's 2027 table, the universities ranked 25th or better (ties included) are: University of Oxford; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Princeton University; Stanford University; University of Cambridge; Harvard University; California Institute of Technology; Imperial College London; University of California, Berkeley; Yale University; Tsinghua University; ETH Zurich; Peking University; University of Pennsylvania; National University of Singapore; The University of Chicago; Johns Hopkins University; UCL; Columbia University; University of California, Los Angeles; Cornell University; University of Toronto; University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Carnegie Mellon University; Technical University of Munich.
What are the big 3 universities in Singapore in THE 2027?
NUS, NTU and SMU are commonly called Singapore's big three. In THE's World University Rankings 2027, NUS is 15th and NTU is 28th. SUTD is shown in the 301–325 band. SMU, SIT and SUSS are not listed in THE's 2025, 2026 or 2027 World University Rankings tables.
How many universities are in the THE World University Rankings 2027?
THE's 2027 table ranks 2,297 institutions from 118 countries and territories, up from 2,191 institutions in the previous edition. Precise ranks and scores are shown for the top 300; below that, universities are placed in bands.
Why is this edition called 2027 when it came out in 2026?
THE names each edition one year ahead. The World University Rankings 2027 were released on 30 September 2026.
Related reading
NUS rank history in THE
NUS at 15th: history from 2010-11, pillar scores and student figures.
NTU rank history in THE
NTU at 28th: the climb from 174th, pillar scores and student figures.
THE Asia University Rankings
The regional THE table, a different ranking from this World table.
QS World University Rankings 2027 results for NUS and NTU
Further reading: a separate ranking system with its own method.
The bottom line
In THE's World University Rankings 2027, Oxford leads, NUS is 15th, NTU is 28th, and SUTD enters the table in the 301–325band. Use the table to see where Singapore's research universities stand globally, then choose a course on fit and entry requirements.
Sources
- 1.THE World University Rankings 2027, full table (released 30 Sep 2026). timeshighereducation.com
- 2.THE results article, "World University Rankings 2027: results announced". timeshighereducation.com
- 3.THE analysis, "World University Rankings 2027: gathering momentum". timeshighereducation.com
- 4.THE World University Rankings 2027 methodology. timeshighereducation.com
- 5.NUS News, "NUS reaches highest-ever position at 15th in the World University Rankings 2027". news.nus.edu.sg
- 6.NTU Singapore, "NTU rises to rank 28th in latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings". ntu.edu.sg
- 7.Singapore Management University, About. smu.edu.sg