QS Overall Rankings

QS Overall Rankings

The QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds(QS).  

In June 2023, QS published their 20th edition of the  QS World University Ranking Results 2024, with the largest ever number of universities partaking - a total of 1,500 institutions across 104 locations, up from 1,400 last year.  University of Galway was ranked 289^th place in 2022 (down from 270th in 2022).   

The results incorporate 17.5 million academic papers published between 2017 and 2021. They also reflect the expert opinions of over 150,000 academic faculty and over 99,000 employers who partake in both the academic and employer reputation survey. The QS introduced faculty area normalisation in 2015 to ensure that institutions specialising in Life Sciences and Natural Sciences were not unduly advantaged. See more about the QS Methodology used in the rankings here.  

New in the 2023: For their 20th edition, QS significantly evolved their methodology, reflecting the shift towards sustainability and employability and research collaborations in higher education. Three new indicators were introduced and some of the original metrics were rebalanced as detailed below: 

The chart below shows University of Galway's overall ranking performance in the QS World University Ranking since 2011 .

University of Galway's Ranking result 2011-2023

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QS Metrics

In 2023 for their 20th edition, QS added three new metrics to their existing six metrics and re-weighted the rankings more towards sustainability, employability and international networks.

Two of the metrics (Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation) are based on surveys conducted by QS, and the remaining seven come from a variety of bibliometric sources. 

The nine Indicators and their weighting in the 2023 QS World University Ranking (WUR) are outlined below:

• Academic Reputation - 30%:  QS' Academic Reputation indicator relates to academic excellence and the scholarly esteem in which the world’s universities are held. Obtained through an annual global survey, it collates more than 150,000 responses from academics in more than 140 countries and locations. It seeks to answer the powerful question of which universities are performing world-class research. The answer to this question not only illuminates the quality of the research, but the strength of the university in communicating that research, and the strength of the impact the research makes across the world. 

• Employer Reputation - 15%: QS’ Employer Reputation indicator is obtained using another survey, like Academic Reputation. The most recent edition surveyed some 99,000 employers at companies and organisations that hire graduates on a significant or global scale. 

• International Staff (5%) and International Students (5%) Looks at the ratio of International Faculty and Students to the overall staff and student population respectively. 

• Citations per Faculty - 20%: This is a measure of the relative intensity and volume of research being done at an institute, taking into account institute size. 

• Faculty Student Ratio - 10%: This measure is a proxy measure for the learning & teaching environment of the University. 

• NEW International Research Network - 5% This is a measure of global engagement, spcifically how institutions create and sustain research partnerships with other institutions across borders to collaborate on solving global challenges.  

• NEW Sustainability - 5%: Looks at how an insitution is demonstrating a commitment to a more sustainable existence. More than just the commitment, it looks for outwards evidence of this - from the impact that alumni are making in science and technology to solve climate issues, to the impact of research being done across the UN's 17 sustainable development goals.  It evaluates the social and environmental impact of universities as a center's of education and research, as well as a major employers with the operational sustainability challenges of any large and complex organization.

• NEW Employment Outcomes - 5%: Reflects the ability of institutions to ensure a high level of employability for their graduates, while also nurturing future leaders who go on to make an impact in their respective fields., it combines the graduate employment rate with Alumni impact

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Press Release

See press releases relating to the QS ranking results:

2022 Press Releases

• Irish Times press release 8th June 2022 

 2021 Press Releases

• NUI Galway's press release 8th June 2021
• Irish Times press release 8th June 2021
• Irish Independent release 8th June 2021
• 2020/2021 QS World Ranking Results 

2020 Press Releases

• Read NUI Galway's news archive on the University Rankings.
• Irish Times, 10th June 2020
• 2019/20 QS World Ranking Results

2019  

• 2018/19 QS World Ranking Results

2018  

• 2017/18 QS World Ranking Results

2017 Press Releases

• The Irish Time press release QS Ranking Results 08/06/2017
• The Irish Independent press release QS Ranking Results 08/06/2017
• Listen to President Jim Browne's interview on Today FM, 08/06/2017 

2016 Press Releases

•  Irish Times press release,  QS ranking results, 06/09/2016
• Listen to President Jim Browne's interview on RTE 1, 09/06/16 

More information:

• Find out more on QS Ranking on the IRO's Web intranet
• Find out more about the QS World University Ranking  

More on University of Galway's scoring in the QS World University Ranking

See more details on University of Galway's scoring in the QS World University Ranking.