What Are Movement Charts?
Movement Charts visualize how a data point changes position over time — typically across two indicators.
They work like a scatter plot, but with an added time dimension. Each point represents a university, and as time progresses, the point moves to show how its position changes relative to others based on the selected variables.
How to Find and Open the Movement Chart
Scroll across Reports bar horizontally to the final one called Analytics.
Click on the Analytics drop-down list — you’ll see four sub-reports.
Select Movement.
Once selected, the interface will update to display the Movement Chart below in the main content area.
Above the chart, you’ll find several configuration controls, namely: Shortcut, X-Axis, Y-Axis, Null Start, and Color By.
Understanding the Chart
By default, the chart displays:
X-Axis: QS Academic Reputation
Y-Axis: QS Employer Reputation
Your initial view is specific to your Benchmark Peers (the same one used in your current Report view).
Therefore, the number of arrows and institutions shown, will reflect your institution plus the others included in that Benchmark Peers.
The chart is also data dependent upon:
The Benchmark Period you last selected (e.g., 1, 3, 5, 10 years, or Max Period)
The Value type previously applied (Rank, Percentile, or Score)
How to Edit and Customize Your Chart
You can adjust the Movement Chart using the options above the visualization:
Benchmark Peer Group
Choose who you want to compare against:Institutions in your country or region
Predefined QS groups (e.g., Ivy League, Russell Group)
Your custom Master Peer List
X and Y Axes
Use the Shortcut button to select from five pre-set indicator pairings.
Alternatively, manually adjust the X-Axis and Y-Axis to explore other combinations.Benchmark Period
Define the timeframe for your movement comparison — choose between 1, 3, 5, 10 years, or Max.
Using Zoom and Context
Context
Context On: dataset includes greyed-out movement arrows representing a broader subset of institutions, providing a wider reference for the bigger picture.
Context Off: chart displays only your university and your selected Benchmark Peers, isolating comparisons to the most relevant institutions.
Zoom
Zoom Off: chart shows the entire range of data points.
Zoom On: chart automatically focuses on the narrower, selected dataset range for clearer, more detailed analysis of selected Benchmark Peers.
Troubleshooting
The platform may experience loading issues if more than 100 peers are selected in the Benchmark Peers selector. In this case, please allow extra time for the system to load or reduce the number of selected peers.
You may have this image and this text:
"No data available for the selected filters. Please try again with 'Include null start values' enabled to display data."
This message typically appears when the Benchmark Period is set to “Max Period”, and some institutions in your Benchmark group do not have data available for the earliest years in the selected period.
To resolve, you need to adjust the "Null Start" dropdown toggle to "Include":
