Imperial College London is ranked among the top universities in the world by many well-known ranking organizations. In the QS World University Rankings for 2025, it holds the 6th position. It is also ranked 5th by The Guardian, 12th by US News, and 8th by Times Higher Education. These rankings show that Imperial is recognized globally for its overall quality and performance.

Imperial’s strength is also clear in specific subjects. The Guardian ranks its Mechanical, Civil, and Aerospace Engineering programs at number 1. QS ranks Mechanical Engineering at 9th and Computer Science at 22nd worldwide. Natural sciences like Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry are also highly ranked by QS and Shanghai rankings. In medical sciences, Medicine is ranked 7th by QS and Clinical Health is 4th by Times Higher Education. Business and social sciences programs are also well placed in QS and Shanghai rankings, showing Imperial’s wide range of strong academic areas.

Also Check: Imperial College London Admission


Imperial College London Rankings: World Ranking Trends

The Imperial College London has maintained its #6 rank in the QS Rankings from the previous year to 2024. The following table shows more such global rankings of the institution marked by the leading ranking bodies:-​

Ranking Body 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021
QS World University Rankings #2 #6 #6 #7 #8
The Guardian World University Ranking #5 #5 #5 #7 #9
US News Best University Rankings #12 #13 #20 #20
THE World University Rankings #9 #8 #10 #12 #11
CWUR #29 #30 #30 #30
Shanghai World University Ranking #25 #23 #23 #25

Imperial College London Rankings: Engineering Rankings

The Guardian has recently crowned 3 courses of Imperial College London across the engineering field at the no. 1 position including Mechanical, Civil, and Aerospace Engineering. More such engineering programs at Imperial College London, ranked by the leading ranking agencies, is listed as follows:-​

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2025 Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021
The Guardian Chemical Engineering #5 #2 #2 #2 #2
Electronic and Electrical Engineering #8 #9 #3 #2 #4
Computer Science and Information Systems #4 #5 #4 #5 #4
Mechanical Engineering #1 #1 #1 #1 #2
Aerospace Engineering #1 #1 #1
Civil Engineering #2 #1 #1 #3 #4
QS World Subject Rankings Computer Science and Information Systems #22 #16 #15 #17 #16
Mechanical Engineering #9 #11 #8 #10 #8
Petroleum Engineering #6 #5 #6 #7 #6
Electrical and Electronic Engineering #12 #11 #10 #11 #9
Engineering and Technology #8 #7 #6 #8 #8
Civil and Structural Engineering #11 #7 #7 #6 #6
Chemical Engineering #9 #8 #7 #10 #10
Times Higher Education Engineering & Technology #12 #10 #14 #13 #14
Shanghai Rankings Nanoscience and Nanotechnology #31 #51-75 #51-75 #50
Transportation Science and Technology #51-75 #51-75 #49 #76-100
Computer Science and Engineering #51-75 #49 #38 #39
Biomedical Engineering #29 #21 #22 #15
Material Science and Engineering #51-75 #28 #17 #17
Telecommunication Engineering #46 #42 #19 #51-75
Chemical Engineering #21 #33 #25 #22
Automation and Control #3 #6 #7 #9
Energy Science and Engineering #4 #11 #11 #25
Metallurgical Engineering #49 #11 #19 #33
Aerospace Engineering #37 #19 #32 #37

Imperial College London Rankings: Natural Science Courses

The Guardian has placed Imperial College London at #3 for its “Mathematics” program in its recent academic rankings. The following table shows how various natural science courses of Imperial College London have performed over the years:-​

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2025 Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021
Shanghai Rankings Earth Sciences #30 #33 #25 #27
Geography #201-300 #101-150 #101-150
Physics #43 #39 #38 #38
Atmospheric Sciences #76-100 #51-75 #51-75 #51-75
Ecology #28 #16 #10 #9
Chemistry #51-75 #51-75 #43 #43
Mathematics #18 #24 #23 #17
Oceanography #101-150 #101-150 #101-150 #101-150
QS World Subject Rankings Environmental Sciences #11 #11 #10 #11 #10
Natural Sciences #9 #9 #9 #9 #9
Mathematics #10 #9 #10 #11 #11
Physics and Astronomy #11 #12 #12 #12 #11
Chemistry #11 #11 #9 #13 #12
Earth and Marine Sciences #17 #21 #20 #21 #24
Biological Sciences #10 #8 #11 #11 #13
Times Higher Education Life Sciences #12 #10 #14 #15 #17
The Guardian Biosciences #10 #8 #8 #18
Mathematics #3 #3 #3 #3 #7
Physics #14 #14 #17 #25 #33
Chemistry #11 #10 #8 #14 #37

Imperial College London Rankings: Medical Science Courses

Three of the medical science programs of Imperial College London have ranked in the top 10 positions in the current Shanghai Rankings. More such courses and their corresponding ranking trends can be observed as follows:​

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2025 Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021
QS World Subject Rankings Medicine #7 #8 #8 #8 #10
Times Higher Education Clinical & Preclinical Health #4 #4 #4 #4 #4
Shanghai Rankings Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences #101-150 #10 #16 #15
Medical Technology #23 #20 #16 #27
Nursing #151-200 #151-200 #201-300 #201-300
Clinical Medicine #8 #7 #8 #8
Public Health #17 #9 #5 #6
The Guardian Medicine #3 #7 #4 #11 #15

Imperial College London Rankings: Business Courses

Imperial College London caters to a wide variety of business-related academic programs. Imperial College Business School is one of the top 1% of business schools globally to receive accreditation from the three biggest and most impactful business school accreditation organisations: AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS. Some of the business programs at Imperial College London have been ranked as follows:-​

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2025 Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021
QS World Subject Rankings Business and Management Studies #37 #29 #28 #25 #34
Economics and Econometrics #35 #30 #31 #39 #53
Accounting and Finance #21 #20 #19 #23 #33
Shanghai Rankings Management #25 #51-75 #35 #33
Economics #51-75 #51-75 #44 #47
Finance #14 #47 #51-75 #76-100
Business Administration #101-150 #101-150 #76-100 #76-100

Imperial College London Rankings MBA

Agency MBA Program World Rankings 2025 Europe Rankings 2025
Financial Times Full-time MBA #37 #12
Online MBA #3 #3
Executive MBA #25 #15
QS Executive MBA #21 #12
Online MBA - #2
Full-time MBA #20 -

Imperial College London Rankings: Humanities Courses

The “Social Sciences and Management” program of ICL just misses a position in the top 50 programs in the QS World Subject Rankings. The following are more such humanities courses of Imperial College London and their respective global ranking trends:-​

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2025 Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021
Shanghai Rankings Education #201-300 #151-200 #301-400 #201-300
QS World Subject Rankings Social Sciences and Management #43 #48 #57 #45 #60
Social Policy and Administration #43 #48 #101-130 #51-100 #101-120
Arts and Design #51-100 #51-100 #51-100 #51-100 #51-100
Arts and Humanities #271 #223 #233

Imperial College London Rankings: US News Subject Rankings

The US News Rankings has placed 6 academic courses offered by Imperial College London among the top 10 subjects. The following table contains the list of such and similar programs:-

Here is the data formatted as a clear, normal table:

Subject Ranking 2024-25 Subject Ranking 2024-25
Agricultural Sciences (tie) #290 Civil Engineering #67
Artificial Intelligence #39 Clinical Medicine (tie) #14
Biology and Biochemistry #20 Computer Science #35
Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology #25 Condensed Matter Physics #47
Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems (tie) #2 Ecology #18
Cell Biology #30 Economics and Business #56
Chemical Engineering (tie) #33 Electrical and Electronic Engineering #31
Chemistry (tie) #43 Endocrinology and Metabolism #15
Green and Sustainable Science and Technology #49 Energy and Fuels #33
Immunology #10 Engineering #26
Infectious Diseases #7 Environmental Engineering (tie) #119
Materials Science #38 Environment/Ecology #26
Mathematics #28 Gastroenterology and Hepatology (tie) #16
Mechanical Engineering #24 Geosciences #41
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences #42 Plant and Animal Science (tie) #87
Microbiology #10 Polymer Science #80
Molecular Biology and Genetics #41 Psychiatry/Psychology #39
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (tie) #66 Public, Environmental and Occupational Health #7
Neuroscience and Behavior #31 Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging #5
Oncology #41 Social Sciences and Public Health #33
Optics #55 Space Science #72
Pharmacology and Toxicology #31 Surgery #16
Physical Chemistry (tie) #63 Water Resources (tie) #58
Physics (tie) #41

Imperial College London Rankings: Miscellaneous

The following table gives a rough idea of the global and national reputation enjoyed by the Imperial College London, based on its employability, education, and other essential factors:-

Ranking Body Parameter Ranking 2024-25
QS WUR Northern Europe University Ranking #1
QS Sustainable Ranking #7
US News Best Global Universities #12
Best Global Universities in Europe #4
Best Global Universities in the UK #4
CWUR National Rank #4
Employability Rank #117
Research Rank #17
Faculty Rank #53
Education Rank #69

THE Rankings and QS Rankings, both have crowned the Imperial College London as the 3rd best university in entire Europe. Meanwhile, ‘The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide’ has awarded it the first position in the UK for research quality. The university has comparatively increased its levels in most of the rankings than the previous year and is strongly committed to do better in the future