The University of Malta (UM) has once again achieved a positive result in the yearly Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (WUR). In the institutional ranking of the 2025 edition, UM has maintained its position in the 801-1000th band for the fourth year in a row.
This prestigious international ranking continues to grow exponentially, with the addition of 185 newly-ranked institutions compared to last year. Indeed, nearly 700 new institutions have joined the ranking since 2020, which now ranks 2,092 institutions representing 115 distinct countries and territories. Additionally, approximately 768 higher education institutions provided data but did not qualify for ranking; these were given "reporter" status.
Beyond solidifying its ranking band despite the yearly influx of new institutions, UM has also continued its positive trend of improving its institutional scores in the ranking’s five key areas. Compared to the 2024 edition, UM strengthened its scores as follows:
- Teaching: from 23.4 to 23.9 (+0.5)
- Research Environment: from 16.2 to 17.3 (+1.1)
- Research Quality: from 60.6 to 61 (+0.4)
- Industry: from 20.5 to 33.3 (+12.8)
- International Outlook: from 53.8 to 57.8 (+4)
This year’s ranking further evidenced the significant strides made by the University when it comes to internationalisation. Indeed, beyond its score of 57.8 in the International Outlook area, UM was individually ranked in 673rd place for this particular area. This places UM in the top third (32%) of worldwide institutions ranked in this area.
Further improvements have also been achieved in the 2025 THE World University Rankings by Subject Area. These rankings focus on eleven specific subject areas, and compared to last year’s results, UM managed to improve in three of these areas. A notable year-on-year improvement can be noted in Business & Economics, an area in which UM was still unranked back in 2023. Since then, the University succeeded in joining the rankings in the 401-500 band in 2024, and moving into the 301-400 band in the 2025 edition.
Notably, UM achieved its first-ever ranking in the Life Sciences area since 2020, and advanced from the 601–800 to the 501–600 band in the Social Sciences area rankings. Below is an overview of UM’s latest ranking results by subject area:
- Arts & Humanities: 501-600
- Business & Economics: 301-400
- Medical & Health (formerly Clinical & Health): 601-800
- Computer Science: 801-1000
- Education Studies (formerly Education): 401-500
- Engineering: 801-1000
- Law: Unranked
- Life Sciences: 601-800
- Physical Sciences: 601-800
- Psychology: 401-500
- Social Sciences: 501-600
A key metric to highlight is research quality, encompassing citations and publications in indexed journals, which carries a significant weighting of 30%. Another critical indicator evaluates the University's reputation for research (18%) and teaching (15%) among academic peers, as determined by responses to the Times Higher Education (THE) Annual Academic Reputation Survey, conducted each year by THE.
UM's strong and consistent performance in international university rankings across diverse subject areas underscores its reputation and excellence.
Enhancing UM's visibility through these rankings serves to nurture and disseminate the University’s reputation, aligning with a core commitment of the International Outlook theme in the University’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025.