Rankings
We're a world top-100 university and a member of the Russell Group of leading UK research universities. Our outstanding performance for excellent teaching and research, as part of a genuinely global community, is consistently confirmed by international independent assessments.
University of the Year
We've been voted University of the Year, Best Students' Union and Best for Student Life at the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024.
Made up of around 35,000 university reviews, the awards are the only annual university accolades based on student views.
A top-100 university in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
98th in the world and 12th in the UK
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
QS Rankings
- 105th in the world
- 29th in Europe, 19th in Northern Europe and 15th in the UK
- 27th in the world (out of 1,751 institutions), 16th in Europe (out of 563) and 10th in the UK (out of 99)
UK university rankings
- 10th in the UK and top university in northern England
Daily Mail University Guide 2025 - 14th in the UK
The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - 18th in the UK
Complete University Guide 2025 - 20th in the UK and top 10 in the UK in 12 subject areas
The Guardian University Guide 2025
A top-rated student experience
- Number one in the Russell Group based on aggregate responses
2024 National Student Survey (NSS) - University of the Year and best for Student Life
Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024 - Number one Students' Union in the UK
Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 - Number one Students' Union among UK universities
National Student Survey 2024 - Number one for Students' Union
StudentCrowd 2024 University Awards - Top university in the Russell Group for student experience and student support
Daily Mail University Guide 2025
Study with us - ranking, reputation and history
Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
- 58th in the world, from over 1,900 institutions, and 15th in the UK for its progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
- 5th globally for action on Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG12)
Research Excellence Framework
The most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) results in 2021 demonstrate our research and impact excellence across a broad range of disciplines and confirm that our research is having a significant positive impact on lives across the globe.
Research Excellence Framework 2021
A Russell Group university
The University is one of the 24 universities that make up the Russell Group. Members of this group are committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework, 92 per cent of our research and impact was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.