Since they were founded, Oxford and Cambridge universities have dominated the worldwide rankings, holding the indisputable title as the best unis in the UK. But that has just changed. One London college has just nipped past Oxford and Cam, taking the title of the second best university in the world in the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2025. 

Beaten only by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London was named the number two university in the world. With an overall score of 98.5. Imperial climbed four spots, coming in sixth place last year.  

‘Imperial is a one-of-a-kind institution in the UK, focusing solely on science, engineering, medicine and business,’ QS wrote. ‘Imperial offers an education that is research-led, exposing you to real world challenges with no easy answers, teaching that opens everything up to question and opportunities to work across multi-cultural, multi-national teams.’

Other London universities on the leaderboard were University College London (UCL) in ninth, King’s College London in 40th and the London School of Economics (LSE) in 50th. Not bad going for the capital. 

In total, eight UK unis ranked in the top 50 worldwide. You can see which ones they were here. 

But not all the rankings agree. On another leaderboard, LSE was named the top university in London. Meanwhile, votes from actual students on StudentCrowd placed the Royal Veterinary College in first place. Which university in London do you think is the best?

You can read the full QS World University Rankings for 2025 on the official website here. 

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