Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a higher education analyst and a for-profit services provider headquartered in London with offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
It then expanded to include a wider range of higher education-focused products and services before partnering with THE in 2004 to create the THE-QS World University Rankings.
[2] In 2009, the company acquired GmbH Unisolutions, a supplier of software solutions to support higher education institutions in the area of internationalisation, especially with managing participation in Erasmus programmes.
Jessica Turner serves as the company's chief executive officer, responsible for the firm's operations and strategy.
The rankings have been criticized for its over-reliance on subjective indicators and reputation surveys, which tend to form a feedback loop.