-
Courses
Courses
Choosing a course is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make! View our courses and see what our students and lecturers have to say about the courses you are interested in at the links below.
-
University Life
University Life
Each year more than 4,000 choose NUI Galway as their University of choice. Find out what life at NUI Galway is all about here.
-
About NUI Galway
About NUI Galway
Since 1845, NUI Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.
-
Colleges & Schools
Colleges & Schools
NUI Galway has earned international recognition as a research-led university with a commitment to top quality teaching across a range of key areas of expertise.
-
Research & Innovation
Research & Innovation
NUI Galway’s vibrant research community take on some of the most pressing challenges of our times.
-
Business & Industry
Guiding Breakthrough Research at NUI Galway
We explore and facilitate commercial opportunities for the research community at NUI Galway, as well as facilitating industry partnership.
-
Alumni, Friends & Supporters
Alumni, Friends & Supporters
There are over 90,000 NUI Galway graduates Worldwide, connect with us and tap into the online community.
-
Community Engagement
Community Engagement
At NUI Galway, we believe that the best learning takes place when you apply what you learn in a real world context. That's why many of our courses include work placements or community projects.
QS Overall Rankings
QS Overall Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds(QS). Previously known as THE-QS World University Rankings, the publisher had collaborated with Times Higher Education magazine (THE) to publish its international league tables from 2004 to 2009 before both started to announce their own versions. QS then chose to still use the pre-existing methodology while THE adopted a new one.
The QS World University Rankings ranked over 1000 universities from over 80 countries. The rankings are based on opinions of over 100,000 individuals in the higher education space regarding teaching and research quality at the world’s universities and almost 50,000 employer responses as well as 13 million research papers and 66 million citations. 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.
In June 2021, the QS published their 18th edition of the QS World University Ranking Results 2021/22. NUI Galway achieved a rank of 258, falling just out of the top 250 band. The decline in rank compared to the previous year, where NUI Galway achieved its highest rank ever of 238th in the world is mainly due to the increase of our student numbers which impacted the staff-student ratio score. Within the World Ranking sector, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ranked first while the University of Oxford lies second and Stanford University is in joint third place with the University of Cambridge.
The chart below shows NUI Galway has steadily risen in the QS World University Ranking and in 2017, reached a rank into the top 250 band (243 )and made it to the top 1% of the universities in the world. Since 2017/2018 NUI Galway has fluctuated in and out of the top 250 band.
NUI Galway's Ranking result 2011-2021
QS Results
In the QS World Ranking Results 2021/22 published 8th June 2021 NUI Galway fell just out of the top 250 band. Despite improvements in NUI Galway's Academic & Employer reputation scores, the increase in the student cohort impacted the staff-student ratio score. Within Ireland, NUI Galway retains its position of 3rd place while Trinity College Dublin retains the number one position and UCD lies in the number two position. Within the World Ranking sector, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ranked first while the University of Oxford lies second and Stanford University is in joint third place with the University of Cambridge.
In last year's results, NUI Galway jumped 21 places in the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) 2020/21 World University Ranking, reaching it's highest rank ever of 238th in the world, published 10th June 2020 placing it in the top 1% of universities in the world.
Over the years NUI Galway has steadily risen in the QS World University Ranking and in 2017, reached a rank into the top 250 band (243 )and made it to the top 1% of the universities in the world. Since 2017/2018 NUI Galway has fluctuated in and out of the top 250 band.
See NUI Galway's detailed breakdown of scores and historic data for the QS World Ranking.
QS Metrics
The QS overall university ranking uses six metrics in total.
Two of the metrics (Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation) are based on surveys conducted by the QS. These surveys are carried out on a population of over 100,000 academics and almost 50,000 employers. See more details on how the QS calculates these surveys and the other core metrics used below.
- Academic Reputation
- Employer Reputation
- International Staff and International Students
- Citations
- Staff/Student Ratio
Table 2: The QS Rankings Metrics
Press Release
See press releases relating to the QS ranking results:
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
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:
More on NUI Galway's scoring in the QS World Ranking
See more details on NUI Galway's scoring in the QS World Ranking.
News
14th November 2021
NUI Galway achieves University of the Year status in the Sunday Times Ranking
9th September 2021
NUI Galway has achieved a renewed Bronze Athena SWAN Award
3rd September 2021
NUI Galway is placed in the 351-400 range in the Times Higher Education World Rankings
8th June 2021
NUI Galway is placed 258th position in the QS World Rankings
4th March 2021
4th November 2020
NUI Galway achieved runner-up position for the second year in a row in the Sunday Times Good University Guide, published November 2020.
2nd September 2020
NUI Galway is ranked in the 301-350 band in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.