Three Czech universities are among the top 500 in the world in this year’s QS World University Rankings, just like last year, according to the index compiled by the British consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Charles University was again the highest ranked Czech institution, though with a slight drop in the rankings from 246th to 265th.
The Czech Technical University in Prague (CVUT) was the second Czech entry, moving up four places to 416th. The third was Brno’s Masaryk University, which was second among Czech schools last year, but dropped to 430th in the overall ranking, down from 408th. More than 1,500 universities from around the world were included in the QS Index this year, 16 of them from the Czech Republic.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the global rankings again this year, for the 14th year in a row. The second place was taken by the Royal University of London, the same as last year. In third place is Stanford University, up from sixth place last year. Oxford University, which was third last year, came fourth this year, while Harvard University fell one place to fifth.
Eight Czech universities were among the top 1,000 universities this year, down from nine last year, as the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice dropped out of the top 1,000.
The rector of Masaryk University, Martin Bares, is not pleased with the results. “I respect objective facts, such as the change in methodology, as well as the higher number of institutions included each year, but we must have higher expectations of ourselves,” he said. “There is no point in boasting that we are among the leaders in the Czech Republic. We live in a global world and only international comparison is the best possible mirror.”
“Long-term results, including the QS World University Rankings, show that CVUT is rightly regarded as an excellent technical school that is sought after by students, teachers and scientists,” said CVUT Vice-Rector Zbynek Skvor, who is currently heading the Prague university following the dismissal of Rector Vojtech Petracek. Skvor added that the school’s goal is to be among the top 400 next year.
An overview of the ranking of Czech universities in the QS World University Rankings 2026:
| University | Ranking |
| Charles University | 265 |
| Czech Technical University, Prague | 416 |
| Masaryk University, Brno | 430 |
| Brno University of Technology | 575 |
| University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague | 638 |
| Palacky University, Olomouc | 668 |
| Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague | 761-770 |
| Mendel University, Brno | 851-900 |
| University of Hradec Kralove | 1001-1200 |
| University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice | 1001-1200 |
| University of Mining and Metallurgy – Technical University of Ostrava | 1001-1200 |
| Technical University of Liberec | 1201-1400 |
| Tomas Bata University, Zlin | 1201-1400 |
| University of Ostrava | 1201-1400 |
| University of Pardubice | 1201-1400 |
| University of West Bohemia, Plzen | 1401+ |
Source: QS World University Rankings
