The University of Oxford has once again claimed the top position in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025, marking a record at No. 1 for nine consecutive years.

The University was founded in the early 12th century. Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, comprising 39 colleges and societies in a federated structure. As of late 2024, William Hague, former UK Foreign Secretary and Conservative Party leader, was elected Chancellor. He succeeds Chris Patten in a largely ceremonial yet influential role, which includes fundraising and representing the University of Oxford. Hague will serve a ten-year term.

In the THE subject rankings 2025, Oxford leads globally in: Computer Science, Medical & Health Sciences, the Economics department rose from third to second in the world among Business & Economics programs, and the university’s Education department ranked 3rd in the world and #1 in the UK for the 2024 subject rankings.

In the overall 2025 ranking, Oxford is followed by MIT (2nd) and Harvard (3rd). Oxford continues to attract global talent, with nearly 90 % of the Saïd Business School’s MBA cohort coming from outside the UK and a median GMAT far above 690. Despite Oxford’s domain leadership, the UK higher education sector has seen a decline in academic reputation, with increasingly stiff competition from Asian universities and funding pressures across British institutions.

In the largest edition yet, 2,092 universities from 115 countries were assessed more than ever before. Oxford leads in all five key evaluation pillars: teaching environment, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry income. It particularly excels in international collaborations and patent citations.

THE’s analysis of 150 million citations and over 18 million research outputs underscores Oxford’s strength-in-depth, particularly in research excellence and environment, Oxford scored top marks in the UK Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), receiving a triple‑gold rating for outstanding teaching and student outcomes.