What are the best universities in Europe? Italian universities are in the rankings, but not at the top. Here’s where they are and why.
The ranking of the best European universities has been presented again this year. It’s called "QS World University Rankings: Europe 2025" and features 4 Italian universities in the top 100, in an overall ranking of nearly 700 names. Good, but not great for Italy, which is suffering due to some missing qualities.
On the podium, compared to last year’s ranking, we find some important changes. ETH Zurich, in fact, overtakes the more famous University of Oxford (currently third) to take first place overall in the ranking. Imperial College London, however, takes the silver medal, having remained just below the lowest spot in the previous ranking.
Italy doesn’t make the top 10, nor the top 30. The first Italian university, in fact, appears in the top 40 and is the Politecnico di Milano, in 38th place.
The Polytechnic is therefore the only Italian university in the top 40, while 3 other universities occupy the top 100 positions out of 685 universities surveyed. But what is pushing Italian universities so far down the rankings?
The 20 best European universities: the 2025 ranking
The top positions of the best European universities are not surprising. For years, they have been on the podium not only of the best universities in Europe, but also among the very top positions of the best universities in the world.
Among the best universities in Europe, in the top 20 positions, we find:
| Ranking | University | Score (out of 100) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland) | 100 |
| 2 | Imperial College London (UK) | 99.5 |
| 3 | University of Oxford (UK) | 99 |
| 4 | University of Cambridge (UK) | 97.8 |
| 5 | University College London - UCL (UK) | 97.2 |
| 6 | The University of Edinburgh (UK) | 96.1 |
| 7 | The University of Manchester (UK) | 95.7 |
| 8 | King’s College London (UK) | 94.9 |
| 9 | Université PSL (France) | 93.4 |
| 10 | EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) | 93 |
| 11 | Technical University of Munich (Germany) | 92.1 |
| 12 | London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE (United Kingdom) | 91 |
| 13 | Lund University (Sweden) | 90.4 |
| 14 | University of Bristol (United Kingdom) | 89.7 |
| 15 | Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) | 89.1 |
| 16 | University of Glasgow (United Kingdom) | 88.5 |
| 17 | University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) | 87.2 |
| 18 | Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Germany) | 87 |
| 19 | University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) | 87 |
| 20 | University of Leeds (UK) | 86.9 |
As can be seen from this ranking, 12 of the top 20 universities are from the United Kingdom. This data clearly demonstrates the solidity and strength of the British academic system in Europe, despite leaving the Union. Important factors such as international orientation, strong investment in research, and ties to the world of work make the difference.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Le migliori università europee, la classifica 2025
