Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

analyst and a

for-profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

services provider headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

History

The company was founded by Nunzio Quacquarelli in 1990 to provide information and advice to students looking to study abroad. It then expanded to include a wider range of higher education-focused products and services before partnering with Times Higher Education (THE) in 2004 to create the THE-QS World University Rankings. In 2009, the company acquired GmbH Unisolutions, a supplier of software to support higher education institutions in the area of internationalisation, especially with managing participation in Erasmus programmes. On 5 October 2017, QS Quacquarelli Symonds acquired Hobsons Solutions, the international division of Hobsons, Inc. On 3 November 2021, QS acquired the web-based counselling and application platform StudentApply. In 2024, QS acquired the career navigation platform 1Mentor. In 2022, the firm's founder, Nunzio Quacquarelli, was appointed as the company's president. Jessica Turner serves as the company's chief executive officer, responsible for the firm's operations and strategy. For 2023, the firm reported turnover of £50.5 million.

Rankings

The ''

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

'' is a portfolio of university rankings. Its first edition was published in collaboration with ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'' (''THE'') magazine as Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings, inaugurated in 2004 to provide an independent source of comparative data about university performance. In 2009, the two organizations parted ways to produce independent university rankings, the QS World University Rankings and THE World University Rankings. The rankings use university reputation according to surveys of academics and employers, together with proxies such as proportion of international students an numbers of citations per publication to rank universities. The rankings have been criticized for its over-reliance on subjective indicators and reputation surveys, which tend to form a feedback loop.

References

{{authority control British companies established in 1990 Education companies of the United Kingdom Education companies established in 1990 1990 establishments in the United Kingdom