The QS Europe regional ranking puts a spotlight on institutions located across the continent. Specifically those based in locations that are members of the Council of Europe.
The ranking looks at five sub-regions: Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Western Asia.
The ranking is designed to provide a more in-depth view of institutional performance in this region, with more universities from the relevant countries ranked than in the QS World University Rankings.
Each of the QS rankings are compiled using a core methodology that employs a range of vital factors including student experience, university partnerships, research activity and faculty qualifications.
Regional rankings allow us to adjust our methodology to better reflect the unique characteristics, priorities and challenges of each region, and highlight to students and institutions alike the factors that are most important to them.
The rankings are compiled by our data analysts in partnership with tens of thousands of higher education institutions.
All of our data is based on high-quality research and innovative analytic approaches. The QS rankings provide methodical evaluations of key areas in higher education institutions, ultimately offering potential students expert advice that’s proven to align them with their chosen path.
To be included in the QS Europe ranking institutions must be based in a location that is a member of the Council of Europe.
Key Dates
Research for the QS Europe Region Rankings begins in September.
Data Collection
| Date Starts | Date Ends | |
| Survey Contacts Submission | September | January |
| Academic Survey | November | March/April |
| Employer Survey | November | March/April |
| Institution Data | November | February |
Rankings
Along with the overall Europe University Ranking, we publish five sub-regional rankings.
- QS Europe University Rankings: Northern Europe
- QS Europe University Rankings: Southern Europe
- QS Europe University Rankings: Eastern Europe
- QS Europe University Rankings: Western Europe
- QS Europe University Rankings: Western Asia
An overall rank in the Europe ranking is transformed into an overall rank in the corresponding sub-regional ranking, using the same overall and indicator scores as the Europe ranking. Indicator ranks in the sub-regional rankings are not available.
Methodology
In each of our rankings we use a range of measurements as part of our methodology. These can be split into three broad groups.
Each ranking is made up of a different group of measurements, with some being used across several rankings and others unique to one project.
Lens
A group of Indicators which are related to the same theme
Indicator
A measurement of one aspect of an institution’s performance. Institutions are scored and ranked within indicators and those indicator scores contribute to its overall rank and score
Metric
A more specific calculation that forms part of an Indicator
Lenses and indicators
Below you can find the weightings for each lens and indicator in this ranking. Weightings are reviewed on an annual basis. Click on each lens or indicator for more detailed information.
| Lens | Weighting | Indicator | Weighting |
| RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY | 45% | Academic Reputation | 30% |
| Citations per Paper | 10% | ||
| Papers per Faculty | 5% | ||
| EMPLOYABILITY AND OUTCOMES | 20% | Employer Reputation | 15% |
| Employment Outcomes | 5% | ||
| GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT | 25% | International Research Network | 10% |
| International Faculty Ratio | 5% | ||
| International Student Diversity | 5% | ||
| Inbound Exchange Student Ratio | 2.5% | ||
| Outbound Exchange Student Ratio | 2.5% | ||
| LEARNING EXPERIENCE | 5% | Faculty Student Ratio | 5% |
| SUSTAINABILITY | 5% | Sustainability | 5% |
Eligibility and Inclusion
Not all higher education institutions are eligible for our rankings, and not all eligible institutions are ranked. Below you can find the criteria for institutions.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the QS Europe Region Rankings an institution must:
- Offer full-degree programmes at BOTH undergraduate and postgraduate level
- Offer full-degree programmes in at least TWO faculty areas
- Offer full degree programmes in at least TWO subjects in each faculty area
- Have at least THREE graduated classes in each subject
- Deliver all or part of each programme on campus
- Be based in a location that is a member of the Council of Europe.
Inclusion
To be included in the QS Europe Region Rankings an institution must:
- Be nominated in the QS Academic Reputation survey
- Have at least 100 papers indexed and published by Scopus over a five-year period. See Papers for more details.
Small Institutions
If an institution has fewer than 5000 students at least one of the below must be true:
- Be in the top 600 for Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Papers per Faculty
- Be in the top 550 in at least two of the above
- Be in the top 500 in at least one of the above
Data Submission
All institutions can submit data for the rankings. This data is important in ensuring our rankings are as accurate as possible.
Where we don’t have data submitted by an institution, we feature them on the strength of proprietary and publicly available or previously supplied data. Our rankings are designed with this in mind.
Submission Platform
You should submit data for your institution through our QS HUB platform. Please contact our Institution Support Team via our helpdesk if you do not have login details, or need further support.
Our rankings are not opt-in/opt-out, so it is in an institution's best interest to ensure that we reflect them accurately by submitting their data.
If you would like your institution to be considered for inclusion in the Rankings and your institution has not received a submission email, please contact: rankings@qs.com.
Data Reporting Period
For the majority of the data we request, the reporting period should cover the academic year previous to our rankings cycle.
This will be approximately January to December for the Southern Hemisphere, and August to July for the Northern Hemisphere.
There are exceptions to this, so please refer to our data dictionary if you are unsure.
Marketing Assets
If your institution is included in the rankings we have a range of assets available to you to allow you to highlight your achievement to students and others.
All ranked institutions should receive the relevant marketing assets at launch. If you are ranked and have not received anything from us please contact: rankings@qs.com
Certificates
All ranked institutions will receive a digital and PDF certificate when they receive their Fact File highlighting their rank.
Certificates are designed for digital or physical use.
Badges
All ranked institutions will receive digital badges when they receive their Fact File email.
This will allow institutions to share and embed their credentials easily, whilst also providing reassurance to viewers of the validity of the credential, as the badges are fraud and tamper-proof, protected by the highest-level protection using blockchain technology.
