The University of Leeds has moved up three places in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide following the recent success of moving up nine places, in the Guardian University Guide.
In the 2026 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, the University is now ranked 26th, up from 29th in the 2025 edition. The rankings, published on 19 September, assess institutions using measures such as teaching quality, student experience, research quality, entry standards, graduate prospects and degree outcomes.
The University of Leeds performed particularly strongly for research quality, ranking 20th in the UK, and was placed 14th for the proportion of firsts and 2:1s awarded. The University also ranked 20th for continuation rates and 35th for graduate prospects, with 81% of graduates in highly skilled work or further study after 15 months. Student experience has also improved significantly, rising 26 places to 66th in the guide’s analysis.
Professor Hai-Sui Yu, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: “League tables are important for the institution’s reputation, and a higher position helps us attract the best to study here.
“This improvement follows our recent rises in the Guardian University Guide and Daily Mail University Guide and reflects the hard work of colleagues across the University to create a better educational experience.
“By working together to enhance education, simplify processes and put students at the centre of everything we do, we are building the foundations for long-term success. The improvements we are seeing now show the value of this collective effort and the difference it is already making to our students and our reputation.”
The latest success reflects, in part, progress seen in the 2025 National Student Survey (NSS), where improvements were seen for the University across every theme and question.
The University of Leeds has also performed strongly in other national and global rankings over the past year:
- The University of Leeds climbed nine places in the 2026 Guardian University Guide.
- The University rose seven places to 18th in the 2025 Daily Mail University Guide.
- It climbed two places to 21st in the 2026 Complete University Guide, with 21 subjects ranked in the UK’s top ten.
- In the QS World University Rankings, the University of Leeds was placed 86th globally, rising to 13th among UK institutions and 13th worldwide for its International Research Network measure.
- In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the University moved up six places to 123rd, its highest position for more than a decade, and 15th among UK universities, with a particularly strong performance for the international outlook measure.
- In the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking), the University of Leeds rose 10 places and remains within the top 200 globally.
Further information
Please visit the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide website or contact the University of Leeds press office at pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk.