Which are the best universities in Europe?

The University of Cambridge is the best university in Europe, according to this year’s QS World University Rankings. Joint first alongside Imperial College last year, this year Cambridge sits alone at the top of the rankings.

The ranking analyses the performance of more than 800 of the world’s universities based on six key indicators – academic reputation, employer reputation, student-to-faculty ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio and international student ratio.

The University of Oxford follows in second place, with a score of 97.7 out of 100. University College London (UCL) completes the top three, also returning a score in excess of 97. Imperial College has slipped to fourth, from its position at the top last year.

The changes in position compared to the 2014/15 rankings are largely down to a change in the way scores are calculated, to take into account the different levels of citations in various faculty area. QS says this has made the ranking more “balanced”.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Joe Myers is a Digital Content Producer at Formative Content.

Image: People walk into the quadrant of Clare College at Cambridge University in eastern England October 23, 2010. REUTERS/Paul Hackett