The University of Liverpool has risen 8 places to rank 139th in the QS World University Rankings 2027. This builds on a sustained upward trajectory, with the University having risen more than 50 places over the last four years.
The rankings, which include 1,500 of the world's leading universities, place Liverpool 22 out of the 90 UK universities listed.
The QS World University Rankings is an annual league table that evaluates and compares universities worldwide based on academic reputation, employer reputation, research output, and other key indicators. The results draw on the analysis of expert opinions of more than 240,000 academic faculty and employers.
The University continues to perform strongly in the Academic Reputation metric, which evaluates global academics perceptions on which institutions demonstrate academic excellence. These latest rankings particularly highlight the volume and impact of the University's research, the institution's reputation with employers - based on their views on which universities produce the best graduates - and how effectively the University of Liverpool establishes and maintains international research partnerships.
Overall, these improvements highlight the University's strength in research as well as graduate outcomes. They also build on the University's strong performance in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, where 12 subjects were ranked in the global top 100, and 2 in the top 50 for 2026, as announced in March.
University of Liverpool Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tim Jones said: "Our continued and significant progression in the QS global ranking is fantastic news and demonstrates the progress we're making toward our goal of joining the world's top 100 universities by 2031.
"Reaching the top 140 affirms our role as a civic university that embraces Liverpool's enterprising and creative spirit. Our research and education transforms students' lives and has a positive global impact.
"Our success in these globally-recognised rankings is a testament to the talent, dedication, and impact of our staff, students, and alumni and I'd like to thank them for their contributions to this fantastic result."
This achievement builds on a series of strong performances in both global and national rankings. The University is in the top 150 in Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, having achieved a 35-place improvement over the last four years. Meanwhile, in UK rankings, the University ranked 18th in the most recent Times and Sunday Times Good University guide - its highest position for more than a decade.
