Spanish university positions at the world 2024 rating

The new academic year is coming, it is a busy time for graduates and applicants, they need to choose and plan their future in advance. In this regard, information about universities in Spain and Europe is becoming very relevant.

According to the latest information on university rankings, unfortunately, two Spanish universities have disappeared from the world's top 1000. The list includes 36 Spanish universities, which is two fewer than in the 2023 ranking. Although most improve or maintain their positions.

A total of 36 Spanish universities (two fewer than a year ago) are among the top 1,000 in the world, and most of them manage to rise or maintain their positions compared to 2023, according to the published Shanghai University Classification 2024.

For the second year in a row, two Spanish universities have been removed from the ranking of the most famous universities in the world: in 2023 there were 38, and in 2022 - 40. The list no longer features Pablo Olavide from Seville and Rey Juan Carlos from Madrid, who were there last year.

Again, no Spanish university is in the top 100 universities in the world, where the US dominates, and the national medal table is topped by the University of Barcelona, ​​which is in the 151-200 range and moving up a block (201-300 in 2023). It is followed by the University of Valencia (201-300), which also moved up from the 301-400 range in 2023.

Having a Nobel or Fields medal is a key indicator

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), better known as the Shanghai Classification, has been published since 2003 and is updated annually by Jiao Tong University, based in the Chinese city. Campuses are ranked one by one up to 100, and then arranged in blocks.

The list analyzes six metrics: the number of students who have won a Nobel Prize or Fields Medal (10%); teachers who have won a Nobel Prize or Fields Medal (20%); researcher citations (20%); articles in Nature & Science journals (20%); academic performance per capita (10%); and papers in the Science Citation Index Extended and the Social Science Citation Index (20%).

For this 2024 edition, Jiao Tong University carefully examined more than 2,500 higher education institutions and published the top 1,000. For the 22nd year in a row, Harvard topped the rankings, followed by Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The top 10 also included Cambridge (4), Berkeley (5), Oxford (6), Princeton (7), Caltech (8), Columbia University (9), and the University of Chicago (10).

In Spain, the top ten in the first half of the table (151 and 500) include, along with these universities of Barcelona and Valencia, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Madrid, Complutense and Pompeu Fabra, all in the 301-400 segment, as in 2023; the University of Granada (301-400, compared to 201-300 in 2023); the Basque Country (301-400, an improvement from 401-500); the Polytechnic Institute of Valencia (401-500, as before) and the University of Seville, which jumped from 501-600 a year ago to 401-500. Only ten move up a position, six move down a notch and twenty continue in the same place as the publication.

The following universities have improved their positions: the University of Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Seville, Laguna, Basque Country, Murcia, Santiago de Compostela, Zaragoza, Alcalá and Castilla-La Mancha.

The following universities have dropped in position: University of Granada; Alicante; Polytechnic Institute of Catalonia, Oviedo, Vigo and Jaén.

As for 2023, the following universities remain on the list: Autonomous University of Barcelona and Madrid, Complutense, Pompeu Fabra, Polytechnic Institute of Valencia and Madrid, University of Navarra, Salamanca, Jaume I, Balearic Islands, Lleida, Extremadura, Malaga, Rovira. The same place and Virgilli from Girona, Carlos III, Cadiz, Cantabria, Cordoba and Valladolid.

In continental Europe, Parisian universities top the list

In continental Europe, Paris-Saclay (12) leads the way, moving up three places to remain the best, followed by ETH Zurich. Among Asian universities, Tsinghua (22) and Melbourne in Oceania continue to lead.

Mainland China continues to be a strong presence in the rankings, with 203 institutions in the top 1000, ahead of the 183 in the US. However, the US retains its leading position in the top 100, with 38 institutions, compared to 13 in mainland China and 8 in the UK.

For several years now, China’s strong rise has been pushing Western universities back. France has improved its ranking, with 25 universities in the Top 1000, 18 in the Top 500, and its Top 100 includes Paris-Saclay (12), PSL (33), the Sorbonne (41) and the Université de Paris (69).

Compared to Spain’s 36 universities in the world’s top 1,000, neighbouring countries such as the UK have 62, Germany (51), Italy (42), France (25), the Netherlands and Sweden (13 each). Austria (11), Switzerland (9), Belgium (8), Denmark (6), Finland (7),

Below are the Spanish universities that appear in the 2024 ranking (first column) and the score they received in 2023:

University of Barcelona 151-200---------201-300

University of Valencia 201-300---------301-400

Autonomous University of Barcelona 301-400---------301-400

Autonomous University of Madrid 301-400---------301-400

Complutense University of Madrid 301-400---------301-400

Pompeu Fabra 301-400---------301-400

University of Granada 301-400---------201-300

University of the Basque Country 301-400---------401-500

Polytechnic University of Valencia 401-500---------401-500

University of Seville 401-500---------501-600

University of La Laguna 501-600---------601-700

University of Murcia 501-600---------701-800

University of Navarra 501-600---------501-600

University of Salamanca 501-600---------501-600

U. Santiago Compostela 501-600---------601-700

University of Zaragoza 501-600---------601-700

Polytechnic University of Madrid 601-700---------601-700

Jaume I 601-700---------601-700

University of Alicante 601-700---------501-600

University of the Balearic Islands 601-700---------601-700

University of Lleida 701-800---------701-800

University of Alcalá 701-800---------901-1000

U. Castilla–La Mancha 701-800---------801-900

U. Extremadura 701-800---------701-900

University of Málaga 701-800----------701-800

Rovira i Virgili 701-800---------701-800

Polytechnic University of Catalonia 801-900----------701-800

University of Girona 801-900----------801-900

University of Oviedo 801-900----------601-700

University of Vigo 801-900---------501-600

Carlos III 901-1000--------901-1000

University of Cadiz 901-1000-------901-10000

University of Cantabria 901-1000---------901-1000

University of Cordoba 901-1000---------901-1000

University of Jaen 901-1000---------801-900