Rankings consulting
Global rankings turn a complex institution into a weighted score. We help you understand precisely where yours is decided, and build the evidence to move it.
Why position matters
Ranking position affects student recruitment, research partnerships, faculty attraction, funding decisions and government relations. Institutions rarely control how much weight others place on it. Treating it seriously is pragmatism, not vanity.
Framework decoder
Three systems, three definitions of a good university. Institutions lose years optimising against the one that rewards them least. The weightings are public — reading them correctly is where strategy starts.
Times Higher Education weights research quality and teaching almost equally, with research environment close behind. International outlook and industry income carry comparatively little.
Quacquarelli Symonds leans heavily on reputation surveys. Academic and employer reputation together carry 45% of the score, so nearly half of a QS position reflects how an institution is perceived rather than what it produces.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities uses no surveys at all. Awards, highly cited researchers and top-tier publications decide position, which makes it the hardest to influence quickly.
Beyond the big three
Global tables are the hardest to move. Subject and regional rankings frequently reward strengths an institution already has, and can earn visible standing years sooner.
Global
Research performance combined with global and regional reputation surveys. Influential with North American audiences in particular.
Asia, Latin America, Arab region, Europe
Regional tables often reward institutions that struggle to place globally, and can be a faster route to visible standing.
Global
Subject tables let a strong department earn recognition the institution as a whole cannot yet claim. Frequently the best first target.
What gets in the way
In our experience position is held back less often by research quality than by how it is recorded, attributed and reported. These are the recurring ones.
How we drive movement
Institutional data collected, mapped to each ranking’s specific definitions, and submitted so it reflects performance accurately within the published guidelines.
Analysis of Scopus, SciVal and Web of Science profiles to find strong research clusters, improve citation impact, and correct the affiliation and naming errors that split your output.
Building academic and employer reputation deliberately, so the right peers know your work when QS and THE distribute their annual surveys.
UniRanking is an independent consulting firm. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to any ranking organisation or accreditation body. All ranking decisions are made by ranking organisations, and all accreditation decisions are made by accrediting bodies. We help institutions prepare — we do not influence outcomes.
Start with a Health Check to see where your position is actually decided, or book a call to talk it through.