University College Dublin climbs to 38th place in QS European University Rankings

28 January 2026

(opens in a new window)University College Dublin has placed 38th in the latest (opens in a new window)QS World University Rankings for Europe.

Continuing to be ranked among the continent’s top universities, this year UCD rose 13 places in the rankings.

The rise of 13 places from last year is due to the University’s improvement in five of the twelve indicators used by QS to develop the rankings including: Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, International Research Network, Citations per Paper, and Inbound Exchange Students.

The most improved indicator for UCD this year was Inbound Exchange Students, which rose by 47 places.

Other increases on the prior rankings included Citations per Paper, up by 18; International Research Network, up by 14, and Employer Reputation, which rose seven places.

Academic Reputation remains the most heavily weighted individual metric at 30% in the 2026 QS European University Rankings, and here UCD increased its rank three places.

For its latest European University Rankings results, QS evaluated 958 institutions across 42 locations in Europe.

Ireland is among the most improved countries this year with six of eight previously ranked Irish universities rising in the table, while four institutions enter the rankings for the first time.

Since they were first released in 2024, UCD has seen its position improve sharply in the European listings, rising from 71 in the inaugural rankings.

For 2026, the University of Oxford retook the top position, with ETH Zurich dropping to second. University College London and Imperial are joint third.

By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie