University College Dublin (UCD) has made a significant leap in this year’s QS World University Rankings, rising 45 places to be ranked 126th globally. This impressive jump places UCD ahead of many global competitors. Despite this progress, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) retains its lead among Irish universities, coming in at first place in Ireland and 87th in the world.
Historical Proximity of UCD and Trinity
The gap between UCD and Trinity is now at its narrowest in recent memory. Historically, the rankings gap between these two institutions has been substantial, ranging from 68 places in 2015 to 90 places in 2024. The significant narrowing of the gap for 2025 is a testament to UCD’s improvement in key areas, particularly in sustainability, where they rose 154 places to become the top-ranked university in Ireland and 50th in the world.
UCD outperforms Trinity significantly in terms of sustainability, with Trinity scoring only 57.7 in this metric. This year’s rankings introduced a five percent weighting increase for sustainability, emphasising the growing importance of environmental and social responsibility in higher education institutions. Clearly, Trinity is lagging behind in this area.
How are Rankings Determined?
The QS rankings system uses nine metrics to rank universities. These include ‘Academic Reputation’, ‘Citations per Faculty’, ‘Employment Outcomes’, ‘Employer Reputation’, ‘Faculty Student Ratio’, ‘International Faculty Ratio’, ‘International Research Network’, ‘International Students Network’, and ‘Sustainability’. The combined scores of these metrics determine the final ranking of each institution. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped this year’s rankings for the 13th consecutive year, with Imperial College London climbing to second place, followed by the University of Oxford, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge.
UCD Increasing its Stature
UCD saw the highest overall increase across all areas when compared to Trinity, with significant improvements in ‘employment outcomes’ (from 69 to 89.8) and ‘international research network’ (from 50.5 to 87.2). The only metric where UCD’s score decreased was the ‘faculty student ratio,’ (from 20.7 to 16.6) a trend observed across Irish universities, and indicative of hiring practices lagging behind an increase to attendance levels in recent years.
On the contrary, Trinity experienced decreases in several metrics, including ‘faculty student ratio’ (dropping from 23.2 to 20.2) and ‘citations per faculty’ (dropping from 64.1 to 58.4), and a sharp decline in ‘sustainability’ (from 75.6 to 57.7). While Trinity leads UCD overall and in academic reputation and score, these declines represent somewhat of an opportunity for UCD to continue closing the gap in the coming years.
Implications for the Future
UCD President Orla Feely reflected on the effort made by the institution to improve their ranking, stating: “UCD’s greatly improved position in the ranking reflects the dedication and achievements of our faculty, researchers, and staff.”
Indeed, the narrowing gap between UCD and Trinity could signify an increasingly competitive future between the two institutions. While other Irish universities lag far behind in the rankings, the battle at the top has intensified. If UCD continues its upward trajectory, they could soon challenge Trinity’s long-standing dominance and reputation on the global stage.
By Jack Donlon – Editor
