Seven out of the State’s eight universities have seen their standing rise in the latest QS World University Rankings.
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) is the top-rated Irish institution, climbing 17 places into 81st, with University College Dublin (UCD) Ireland’s second best performer (171st place) and University of Galway third, though its place in the international rankings fell from 270th to 289th.
TCD’s performance is down to its “strong reputation” among international academics and “excellent career prospects”, according to QS.
University College Cork (UCC) moved up 11 places to 292nd; University of Limerick went up by more than 100 places to 426th; Dublin City University moved up 35 places to 436th. Maynooth University was ranked in the 801-850 category (up from the 801-1,000 category) and Technological University Dublin (TUD) was in the 851-900 category (up from the 851-1,000 category).
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The top five ranked universities in the world are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, the UK’s University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, and Harvard and Stanford in the US.
Irish universities saw major improvements in their overall attractiveness to overseas students, providing highly-employable graduates and excellent sustained performance, QS said. Irish institutions perform best in the QS international faculty area, with an average score of 84.2 out of 100. However, it said Irish universities struggled with the impact of their research projects/courses and with collaborations with international universities and companies.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the rankings, and to reflect the growth in information availability, the changing priorities of students and society at large over the past two decades, QS has introduced three ratings for sustainability, employment outcomes and an international research network. They also adjusted the weighting of some existing scoring in relation to academic and employer reputation, along with faculty student ratio.
Jessica Turner, QS chief executive, said: “Ireland’s universities have made impressive strides in the 2024 QS World University Rankings, showcasing their ability to produce skilled and work-ready graduates, and their commitment to sustainable development goals and social impact. In doing so it bucks a trend of comparative stagnation for such a booming economy.”
She added: “As Ireland continues to attract international investment, innovation and talent from abroad, research and development, underpinned by highly trained PhD level faculty, should be at the core of its mission moving forward.”
Ireland’s top universities performed well in employment outcomes, with TCD and UCD both in the world’s top 100.
International faculties of Irish universities are very attractive to foreign students, with six institutions ranking in the top 200, including TCD at 79th. Yet accessibility for international students and on-campus diversity is not one of Irish universities’ strengths, with no third-level institution ranking in the top 100.
Ireland’s success in this year’s rankings is primarily a result of strong performances in the new indicators and its international student ratio.
As for academic reputation, six out of eight Irish universities fell, with TCD achieving the highest score and the country’s only top 100 ranking. UCD tops the table among Irish institutions for employer reputation.
Only the University of Galway places among the world’s top 300 for QS’s measure of class size and resource allocation. The next highest-scoring university is UCC, which is placed outside the top 500.
No Irish university makes the top 100 for the impact of their research and it is the same for global collaboration, with TCD ranking 132nd in international research networking.
Ben Sowter, QS senior vice-president, said Ireland’s performance in the latest rankings was “impressive” but there were “some notable areas” in which it could improve such as the research agenda and international collaboration. “As a booming centre for international business and innovation it should look to leverage industry partnerships to facilitate important relevant research and further improve the already impressive career prospects enjoyed by its graduates.”
