Times Higher Education’s 2026 World University Rankings have been released, and things are looking good for one Manchester-based university.
The University of Manchester has ranked 56th out of 2,191 institutions, beating well-known institutions like Brown University.
This also places it above both Manchester Metropolitan University and The University of Salford.
Manchester Metropolitan ranked between 601st and 800th, and Salford ranked between 801st and 1000th.
The league tables were produced based on a variety of performance indicators. The “five core pillars of evaluation” were teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry (income and patents).
The University of Manchester scored 74.9 out of 100 overall, placing eighth out of all UK universities. It ranked second in Times Higher Education’s additional “impact rankings.”
Manchester Metropolitan scored 39.0-43.5, whilst Salford scored 35.5-38.9.
Other notable factors for the University of Manchester were a score of 92.4 for research quality and 94.5 for international outlook.
The universities’ student to staff ratios fell with their rankings; the University of Manchester has 14.9 students per staff, while Manchester Met has 18.1 and Salford University has 20.9.
The University of Manchester’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison, said the university is “proud to see” its “outstanding international reputation recognised.”
“However, we also want to continue to improve in these and other rankings,” he added. “Our new strategy is focused on driving excellence in research, teaching and innovation and for that to bring more benefit to society over the coming years.”
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