The University of Cambridge has been ranked the top UK university in The Times Higher Education (THE) Global Employability Ranking, coming in fifth place globally.

The ranking assesses universities based on their graduates’ employability and readiness to enter the world of work. This is measured by an independent survey, with the results exclusively based on direct employer assessments.

The Global Employability University Ranking and Survey (GEURS), produced by data from the French consultancy Emerging, is the only ranking and survey to reveal the world’s top 250 universities for producing employable graduates based on employers’ assessments, knowledge, and expectations.

This year, the top position was claimed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), followed by the California Institute of Technology in second and Stanford University in third.

Harvard University overtook Cambridge, securing the fourth spot.

Despite dropping down a place from last year’s rankings, Cambridge University has still managed to outperform Oxford, which moved up from eighth place last year to seventh in the 2025 ranking.

US and UK universities collectively hold ten of the top 20 places in the list, with 13 UK institutions featuring overall.

The data consistently shows that graduates who have undertaken some form of work experience are highly sought after upon graduation. This factor is becoming “exceptionally influential” in employer evaluations.

In addition to work experience, the survey also found that 45.9% of employers value the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies and trends, while 45.1% prioritise collaboration skills, such as communication and teamwork.

Sandrine Belloc, Emerging’s managing partner, commented on the 2025 results, noting that “the mounting global emphasis on employability is driving a transformative shift” in universities. She added that students are now being better equipped “with essential skills for today’s dynamic workforce”.

This comes after Cambridge was ranked fifth in The Times World University Rankings 2025 for the second year running, and fourth in the UK ranking, dropping below rivals Oxford in both.