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Posted June 24, 2025

University rankings for postgraduate courses

University rankings for postgraduate courses

If you are thinking about postgraduate study there are many things to take into account whilst you are making your choice. Once you have worked out your finances and concluded that studying a masters degree is a viable path to undertake – it’s time to decide what postgraduate course you want to study and where you want to study it.

When considering your university options, it’s a good idea to look at university rankings to see how the HEIs that you are considering compare to each other. However, you need to bear in mind that although they can be useful, university rankings don’t give the full picture, so you shouldn’t base your entire decision on them.

What do university rankings show?

You can use university rankings to find out several important elements relevant to postgraduate study – for example the QS World University Rankings measure universities using indicators including:

  • Academic Reputation
  • Citations per Faculty
  • Employment Outcomes
  • Faculty Student Ratios
  • International Student Diversity
  • International Student Ratio
  • Sustainability


So, by looking through these rankings you will be able to see how many international students choose the institutions you are considering, the likelihood of employability, the quality and quantity of published research per faculty, and many other indicators that could make individual universities more appealing to you.

What don't university rankings show?

The information that can’t be gleaned from university rankings are the aspects of university life that will affect your day-to-day postgraduate experience. Considerations such as how far is the library from the canteen? What are the lab opening hours? How much is a pint of lager in the Student Union bar? For this kind of information, you are better off checking student forums and doing some research on social media.

What are the best university rankings figures to use?

There are many different university rankings figures and league tables to read through, and although most of these are undergraduate-specific, they can still act as a good indicator to your postgraduate experience.

QS World University Rankings – these provide a comparative analysis of universities worldwide considering research output, employability, learning experience, global engagement and sustainability.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings – Times Higher Education has published reliable data about universities and their position globally since 2004. The World University Rankings assess over 2,000 research-intensive HEIs from 115 different countries and territories.

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) – also known as the Shanghai Rankings, these were first published in 2003. ARWU ranks universities worldwide using six indicators including the number of Nobel Prize-winning alumni and staff, the number of highly cited researchers selected by Clarivate, and the per capita performance of the university.

The Guardian University Guide – these league tables rank UK institutions by subject, examining student satisfaction, staff numbers, institution spending and career prospects.

What do university rankings measure?

Although the various university rankings differ in their categories and assessment of the HEIs – they all tend to assess the same main areas:

  1. Research output and performance – this is a good category for postgraduates to consider, especially for those interested in progressing further with academia. Leading research-intensive universities may well offer interesting and unique postgraduate opportunities – so check what’s available at the HEIs leading the way in research.
  2. Teaching quality – in the most part, this ranking information will be undergraduate-specific, however it can provide a good indicator to your postgraduate journey. This indicator will consider aspects of teaching including staff-to-student ratios and alumni achievements. For postgraduate students, the staff-to-student ratio information won’t be as important as it is to undergraduates, as class sizes and student cohort for PG courses are always smaller. However, alumni achievements can provide a good indicator of what can be achieved with a masters degree from the various institutions.
  3. Internationalisation – considering international student ratios and diversity, this category may be of particular interest to international students as it provides a good indicator of extra-curricular activities, clubs and tailor-made provisions for international students, which will make them feel more at home and enhance their postgraduate journey.
  4. Industry links – having strong industry connections is particularly important to those studying vocational postgraduate courses and looking to improve their career prospects with a masters degree. Internships and work-related placements could be of particular interest to Master of Laws students, MBA students, and those studying other business-related courses.

Subject-specific rankings

Looking at subject-specific rankings is a good way to get some idea of the provisions for your specific field at your shortlisted selection of universities. Times Higher Education offers World University Rankings by subject, offers informative tables providing data on the following subject categories: Arts and Humanities; Business and Economics; Computer Science; Education Studies; Engineering; Law; Life Sciences; Medical and Health; Physical Sciences; Psychology; and Social Sciences.

Limitations of university rankings

Although university rankings can offer a good starting point to choosing the best university for your postgraduate degree, they do have some limitations. Many of the newer universities won’t have the reputation, historical funding provisions or research experience of the Russell Group universities, so will not rank highly in many of the more established university rankings.

There are some league tables offering data on the best young universities. For example, the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings – list the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger – these use the same performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings, however the weightings are adjusted to give less importance to reputation. Another relevant rankings table are the StudyIn Best UK Universities Under 50 Years Old – these assess and rank UK universities that have been created in the last 50 years.

Student cities rankings

Other rankings figures that may be of interest to all students, including postgraduate students, are the rankings of the student cities to help students choose where they would like to live. Student Crowd publishes an annual Best Student Cities UK, which is voted by students and provides a great indicator of the cities you could choose to live and study in (or choose to avoid!). These rankings are based on Cost of Living; Nights Out; Transport; Eating Out; and Shopping – they give a good idea of the accessibility of the city in general as well as the nightlife, or lack of.

Meanwhile, QS publishes its Best Student Cities in the World for Studying Abroad which considers a range of factors such as affordability, desirability and student opinion. To be considered in these rankings, the cities need be home to at least two universities and to have a population of over 250,000. The key categories here are University Rankings; Student Mix; Desirability; Employer Activity; Affordability; and Student View.

Looking to study a postgraduate program? Use our course search to find your ideal masters degree.

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