UCC rises 19 places in QS World University Rankings table

UNIVERSITY College Cork (UCC) has risen 19 places in one of the world’s leading education ranking systems, putting it at 273rd place among global educational institutions.

This year’s edition of the QS World University Rankings, which was released yesterday by global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), places UCC at number 273 in the world.

This year’s jump in the university’s ratings comes after an 11-place improvement last year, and marks UCC’s highest QS rank since 2015.

This independent assessment, which covers 2024 to 2025, examines the world’s universities against indicators relating to academic reputation, employer reputation, internationalisation, teaching, research, and sustainability as well as the employment outcomes of the graduates.

The higher education analyst looked at 5,663 institutions, with 1,503 universities across 106 locations making the final published list.

It rated UCC highly across the board, noting particular strengths for sustainability, internationalisation, and reputation with graduate employers.

Welcome for rankings 

The president of UCC, Professor John O’Halloran, welcomed the university’s further improvement in the rankings.

“A university is about its people, our students, staff, our UCC community, both local and global,” he said.

“I am very pleased that the ongoing dedication and commitment of our excellent staff to our students has been recognised by an improved showing in the QS rankings.

“It is particularly encouraging that our global engagement and reputation with graduate employers has been noted, while UCC research and work in the advancement of sustainability continues to be acknowledged as world-leading.”

Subject rankings 

Last year, UCC was named in the QS World University Subject rankings as one of the world’s top universities for the study of 25 subjects.

Nursing at UCC earned the highest ranking for the university last year, coming in number 33 on the world list.

Law at UCC rose last year from 75th in the world to 59th.

Agriculture and Forestry was ranked at 61 last year, followed by Pharmacy and Pharmacology, which was ranked at 99.

The subjects of Anatomy and Physiology at UCC were also mentioned in the world’s top 100 list last year.

Several subjects studied at UCC also placed in the top 200 in the QS World University Subject rankings.

Last year saw Performing Arts and Modern Languages score in the leading 120 university subjects.

This was followed by English Language and Literature earning a place in the top 150 and UCC Medicine ranking in the QS top 200 subject rankings.