Universidad Carlos III de Madrid vs IE University (IE Business School): which trading school is better?
As of October 29, 2026, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid leads IE University (IE Business School) by 0.7 point in the 2027 trading school ranking: #115 internationally against #130. The gap comes mainly from the Recognition and employability pillar. IE University (IE Business School) does better on Visibility and Teaching. On Trust, they are level.
2027 edition · updated October 29, 2026 · next updates planned for December 2026 and January 2027 · Ranking methodology
All 25 criteria, side by side
| Criterion | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | IE University (IE Business School) |
|---|---|---|
| Score out of 100 | 66.7 | 66.0 |
| International rank | #115 | #130 |
| Rank in Spain | #3 of 75 | #4 of 75 |
| Trust · 10 % | 4.00/5 | 3.86/5 |
| 1. Regulator warnings | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 2. Registered company and age | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 3. Transparency: price, refunds, legal notice, contact | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| 4. Named, verifiable instructors | 4/5 | 1/5 |
| 5. Honest marketing, no promise of profit | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| 6. Secure website | 3/5 | 5/5 |
| 7. Protected domain (SPF, DMARC, headers) | 2/5 | 4/5 |
| Teaching · 20 % | 1.67/5 | 2.00/5 |
| 8. Curriculum coverage | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| 9. Real practice | 1/5 | 3/5 |
| 10. Mentoring and support | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| 11. Cost per training hour | n/a | 1/5 |
| Student reviews · 20 % | 4.00/5 | 4.33/5 |
| 13. Student rating (Trustpilot and Google) | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| 14. Number of reviews | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| 15. Suspicious review warning | n/a | 5/5 |
| 16. 12-month trend | n/a | n/a |
| Recognition and employability · 30 % | 3.83/5 | 2.50/5 |
| 12. Degree-granting program | 5/5 | 1/5 |
| 18. Degree recognized by a state or the profession | 5/5 | 2/5 |
| 25. Employability and career outcomes | 3/5 | 2/5 |
| 17. Institutional accreditation | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| 19. Labels and awards | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| 20. Official partners | 3/5 | 1/5 |
| Visibility · 20 % | 3.25/5 | 4.50/5 |
| 21. Domain age | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 22. Websites linking to it | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 23. Press mentions, Wikipedia page | 2/5 | 5/5 |
| 24. Social media audience | 1/5 | 3/5 |
In green, the better of the two scores. “n/a”: not applicable, the criterion is left out of its pillar. “–”: criterion not yet assessed. The evidence and source for each score are on each school's listing.
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid: full listingIE University (IE Business School): full listing