UK universities are facing significant challenges due to funding cuts and tighter regulations on overseas students, as highlighted in the annual Quacquarelli Symonds (QS ) 2025 university rankings released on Tuesday.
Despite these pressures, four British universities have retained their spots in the top 10 of more than 1,000 institutions ranked by QS, a benchmark ranking alongside the Times and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Imperial College London has made a notable leap, moving from sixth to second place and surpassing the historically dominant Oxford and Cambridge, which ranked third and fifth, respectively. However, the overall picture is less rosy, with more than half (52) of the UK’s universities downgraded out of the 90 included in the rankings.
“This year’s results suggest that British higher education has limited capacity remaining to continue excelling in the face of funding shortages, drops in student applications,” and restrictions affecting the intake of international students, said Jessica Turner, head of QS.
The Conservative government has introduced several measures in recent months to curb regular migration, which it considers too high. These measures include barring overseas students from bringing dependents and increasing the minimum salary needed for skilled worker visas. These policies have been criticized by universities, whose budgets rely heavily on the higher fees paid by international students.
According to government statistics, 30,000 fewer student visa applications were made in the first four months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2023.
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