Another year, another round of university rankings lists. An exciting time for those praying on UoE’s downfall, and a stressful time for the university PR teams desperately trying to salvage its reputation.
QS have released their World University Rankings for 2026, with every Edinburgh institution being ranked against the world.
For Edinburgh’s unis, competition with Glasgow’s representatives will be fierce, but the rankings team at QS are even fiercer.
QS World University Rankings gives universities an overall score and ranking based on factors such as employability (including “student satisfaction” and “employer reputation” – Peter Mathieson, we’re looking at you), research and discovery, global engagement, sustainability, and learning experience.
These factors also contain scores for sub-categories such as “Academic Reputation” and “Citations per Faculty” for research and discovery.
Universities are further ranked according to their subjects, with a searchable world ranking list for individual degrees.
As the world’s universities scramble to cover up or capitalise on this years’ placings, here’s a rundown of how Edinburgh’s universities have fared:
1. The University of Edinburgh
EdinbRAH University is coming in top, at no. 34 – an impressive ranking, but down seven places from last year’s list. With an overall score of 87.2, Edinburgh Uni has an admirable Academic Reputation score of 99.6 and an Employment Outcomes score of 69.7.
Subject-wise, Edinburgh was ranked highest by QS for Veterinary Science at number 5 in the world – naturally, for a university so dedicated to promoting therapy alpacas.
The university was also ranked an impressive 7th best in the world for Sustainability, the same as in 2025.
2. Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt comes in second, at 287, with an overall score of 46.8. Another descent in the rankings for Edinburgh, the university has fallen 31 places since 2025’s list. However, the university ranks higher than The University of Edinburgh in its Research & Discovery scoring, at 61.8 to Edinburgh’s 54.3.
The university’s highest ranking subject according to the QS 2026 list was Petroleum Engineering – an almost disturbingly practical and employable degree likely to send any History of Art student spiralling. HW is also pushing for a new brewing and distilling centre on campus – get me signed up asap.
3. Edinburgh Napier
Napier is ranked third of the Edinburgh universities, at 851-900, down from last year’s ranking of 801-850.
The university ranked best in Global Engagement – all those YouTube and bus stop advertisements clearly did the job #MustBeNapier.
Edinburgh Napier’s highest ranking QS subject in 2026 was Hospitality and Leisure Management, at number 151 in the world – fitting for a city that recently introduced a tourist tax.
4. Queen Margaret University
Queen Margaret comes in last place of the Edinburgh universities with a ranking of 1201-1400, again – there is a theme here – down in the rankings from 2025.
Queen Margaret also scored the worst for Sustainability out of all the Edinburgh rankings at 18.6.
79. University of Glasgow
45 places below the University of Edinburgh – surely a win for all of the East coast.
Featured image via Google Maps.
