United Kingdom University Research Rankings
Compare United Kingdom universities using recent research output, citation impact, growth and a transparent research-performance score.
Research landscape
The current ITS Research Intelligence dataset contains 221 index-ready universities in United Kingdom. Across those institutions, the average five-year research output is approximately 10,777 works and the average five-year citation count is approximately 127,533. The average publication-growth signal is 49.6%. These figures describe the institutions that pass the public quality gate; they are not intended to represent every tertiary institution in the country.
Country rankings are useful for benchmarking because they reduce some of the structural differences that make global comparisons difficult. They still should not be treated as a complete assessment of institutional quality: teaching, student outcomes, funding levels, research field mix and institutional mission are outside this research-performance score. The value of the page is in seeing who is producing research, how that activity is changing, and where citation visibility is concentrated.
Top research universities in United Kingdom
| Rank | University | Country | Score | 5-year works | 5-year citations | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | University College London | United Kingdom | 91.5 | 172,008 | 2,443,901 | 11.1% |
| #2 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 89.8 | 181,718 | 1,981,134 | -1.9% |
| #3 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 89.4 | 116,710 | 1,632,130 | -0.8% |
| #4 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom | 88.8 | 116,645 | 1,541,914 | -1.3% |
| #5 | King's College London | United Kingdom | 86.4 | 81,426 | 1,050,790 | 5.3% |
| #6 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 86.1 | 77,640 | 932,337 | 8.0% |
| #7 | University of Manchester | United Kingdom | 85.9 | 77,584 | 918,032 | 10.7% |
| #8 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom | 85.2 | 52,133 | 668,829 | 13.4% |
| #9 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom | 85.1 | 54,889 | 710,066 | 13.5% |
| #10 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom | 84.8 | 54,967 | 766,615 | 6.4% |
| #11 | Queen Mary University of London | United Kingdom | 83.9 | 41,746 | 581,929 | 15.3% |
| #12 | University of Liverpool | United Kingdom | 83.8 | 64,397 | 617,187 | 33.0% |
| #13 | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine | United Kingdom | 83.5 | 33,149 | 454,691 | -3.9% |
| #14 | University of Southampton | United Kingdom | 83.2 | 44,605 | 558,786 | 7.8% |
| #15 | University of Nottingham | United Kingdom | 82.8 | 44,706 | 551,604 | -2.3% |
| #16 | University of Exeter | United Kingdom | 82.8 | 43,114 | 536,810 | 22.0% |
| #17 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom | 82.7 | 50,407 | 550,697 | 8.7% |
| #18 | Cardiff University | United Kingdom | 82.5 | 35,981 | 437,169 | 3.2% |
| #19 | University of Sheffield | United Kingdom | 82.3 | 45,800 | 493,630 | 12.5% |
| #20 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom | 82.1 | 41,585 | 499,666 | 8.9% |
| #21 | University of Warwick | United Kingdom | 81.5 | 37,775 | 437,442 | 5.2% |
| #22 | University of York | United Kingdom | 81.4 | 28,395 | 421,207 | 14.7% |
| #23 | Queen's University Belfast | United Kingdom | 80.9 | 28,363 | 361,070 | 5.4% |
| #24 | University of Leicester | United Kingdom | 80.4 | 27,715 | 330,311 | -6.8% |
| #25 | University of Surrey | United Kingdom | 79.6 | 21,603 | 296,197 | 7.4% |
| #26 | Durham University | United Kingdom | 79.4 | 27,085 | 286,009 | 13.4% |
| #27 | Lancaster University | United Kingdom | 79.0 | 23,185 | 253,308 | 10.3% |
| #28 | University of East Anglia | United Kingdom | 78.8 | 18,066 | 223,624 | 2.7% |
| #29 | University of Sussex | United Kingdom | 78.7 | 17,137 | 214,207 | 2.6% |
| #30 | University of Aberdeen | United Kingdom | 78.5 | 19,731 | 211,598 | -3.0% |
| #31 | University of Bath | United Kingdom | 78.3 | 20,694 | 231,620 | 5.7% |
| #32 | University of Dundee | United Kingdom | 78.1 | 14,277 | 169,839 | 20.8% |
| #33 | Swansea University | United Kingdom | 78.0 | 17,169 | 220,190 | 8.3% |
| #34 | University of London | United Kingdom | 77.8 | 11,991 | 151,487 | 1.8% |
| #35 | University of Reading | United Kingdom | 77.5 | 19,883 | 200,561 | 7.6% |
| #36 | University of Strathclyde | United Kingdom | 77.3 | 20,987 | 220,888 | -1.2% |
| #37 | University of Portsmouth | United Kingdom | 77.3 | 12,208 | 178,142 | 5.8% |
| #38 | Brunel University of London | United Kingdom | 76.9 | 13,254 | 156,283 | 19.4% |
| #39 | Liverpool John Moores University | United Kingdom | 76.8 | 13,470 | 157,409 | 38.1% |
| #40 | Institute of Cancer Research | United Kingdom | 76.6 | 5,325 | 118,076 | -13.6% |
| #41 | Northumbria University | United Kingdom | 76.6 | 19,100 | 210,169 | 20.4% |
| #42 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom | 76.5 | 18,742 | 173,422 | 3.8% |
| #43 | University of Ulster | United Kingdom | 76.0 | 12,378 | 144,251 | -0.7% |
| #44 | Aston University | United Kingdom | 75.8 | 9,709 | 136,985 | 17.1% |
| #45 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom | 75.8 | 16,928 | 169,273 | -1.9% |
| #46 | Loughborough University | United Kingdom | 75.5 | 27,150 | 185,479 | 87.8% |
| #47 | Cranfield University | United Kingdom | 75.1 | 8,441 | 120,266 | 1.8% |
| #48 | University of Essex | United Kingdom | 75.1 | 12,396 | 128,363 | 18.0% |
| #49 | Manchester Metropolitan University | United Kingdom | 75.0 | 12,960 | 144,053 | 19.1% |
| #50 | Keele University | United Kingdom | 74.9 | 10,368 | 120,913 | 2.8% |
| #51 | Nottingham Trent University | United Kingdom | 74.7 | 11,243 | 141,083 | 9.9% |
| #52 | University of Plymouth | United Kingdom | 74.6 | 10,827 | 113,726 | 24.2% |
| #53 | Royal Holloway University of London | United Kingdom | 74.2 | 9,789 | 101,624 | 7.4% |
| #54 | Heriot-Watt University | United Kingdom | 74.2 | 8,099 | 94,450 | 13.4% |
| #55 | Bangor University | United Kingdom | 74.1 | 8,107 | 88,322 | 22.1% |
| #56 | University of Hertfordshire | United Kingdom | 74.1 | 8,740 | 96,092 | 23.7% |
| #57 | University of Kent | United Kingdom | 73.8 | 11,705 | 119,051 | -17.1% |
| #58 | University of Hull | United Kingdom | 73.4 | 9,331 | 96,544 | 12.2% |
| #59 | University of Greenwich | United Kingdom | 72.7 | 6,963 | 84,869 | 15.2% |
| #60 | Coventry University | United Kingdom | 72.7 | 10,312 | 107,063 | -11.1% |
| #61 | University of the West of England | United Kingdom | 72.6 | 8,279 | 92,733 | 17.5% |
| #62 | University of Stirling | United Kingdom | 72.2 | 8,202 | 78,285 | 8.2% |
| #63 | University of Bradford | United Kingdom | 72.1 | 6,610 | 70,980 | 16.3% |
| #64 | Edinburgh Napier University | United Kingdom | 71.9 | 6,830 | 76,982 | 31.1% |
| #65 | Bournemouth University | United Kingdom | 71.8 | 6,950 | 80,411 | 9.4% |
| #66 | Anglia Ruskin University | United Kingdom | 71.6 | 7,050 | 75,339 | 38.7% |
| #67 | University of Huddersfield | United Kingdom | 71.4 | 7,635 | 81,110 | -6.8% |
| #68 | Aberystwyth University | United Kingdom | 71.1 | 3,272 | 46,102 | -10.0% |
| #69 | Birmingham City University | United Kingdom | 71.0 | 6,644 | 62,347 | 77.1% |
| #70 | University of Lincoln | United Kingdom | 70.9 | 7,529 | 79,440 | 4.6% |
| #71 | Teesside University | United Kingdom | 70.9 | 5,395 | 57,594 | 53.5% |
| #72 | University of the West of Scotland | United Kingdom | 70.8 | 4,575 | 49,761 | 61.2% |
| #73 | The Open University | United Kingdom | 70.7 | 12,673 | 85,591 | 17.5% |
| #74 | University of Lancashire | United Kingdom | 70.5 | 5,168 | 56,582 | 12.2% |
| #75 | De Montfort University | United Kingdom | 70.1 | 6,611 | 65,805 | -4.5% |
| #76 | Royal Veterinary College | United Kingdom | 70.1 | 4,203 | 46,530 | 2.2% |
| #77 | Middlesex University London | United Kingdom | 70.1 | 3,408 | 48,948 | -14.1% |
| #78 | Birkbeck, University of London | United Kingdom | 70.0 | 6,503 | 56,723 | -4.8% |
| #79 | University of Salford | United Kingdom | 69.9 | 8,220 | 60,049 | 48.5% |
| #80 | University of Wales | United Kingdom | 69.5 | 1,462 | 17,722 | 52.3% |
| #81 | Scotland's Rural College | United Kingdom | 69.4 | 3,400 | 44,700 | 4.1% |
| #82 | Kingston University London | United Kingdom | 69.2 | 3,258 | 40,223 | 2.2% |
| #83 | University of Derby | United Kingdom | 69.2 | 5,057 | 50,718 | 38.5% |
| #84 | Hull York Medical School | United Kingdom | 69.1 | 3,706 | 45,606 | 0.3% |
| #85 | Henry Royce Institute | United Kingdom | 69.0 | 1,719 | 38,564 | 18.7% |
| #86 | Glasgow Caledonian University | United Kingdom | 68.9 | 4,817 | 45,429 | 0.2% |
| #87 | University of Brighton | United Kingdom | 68.8 | 4,394 | 46,279 | -16.1% |
| #88 | Robert Gordon University | United Kingdom | 68.8 | 3,699 | 39,945 | 39.6% |
| #89 | Brighton and Sussex Medical School | United Kingdom | 68.7 | 4,109 | 43,203 | -3.8% |
| #90 | Cardiff Metropolitan University | United Kingdom | 68.4 | 5,125 | 42,519 | 52.7% |
| #91 | Sheffield Hallam University | United Kingdom | 68.2 | 6,797 | 54,746 | 20.5% |
| #92 | London South Bank University | United Kingdom | 67.8 | 4,215 | 41,448 | -5.1% |
| #93 | Leeds Beckett University | United Kingdom | 67.5 | 5,669 | 45,794 | 38.0% |
| #94 | London Business School | United Kingdom | 67.3 | 1,660 | 20,144 | -27.4% |
| #95 | Medway School of Pharmacy | United Kingdom | 67.3 | 1,316 | 26,361 | -3.2% |
| #96 | University of Wolverhampton | United Kingdom | 67.1 | 4,201 | 38,448 | -21.7% |
| #97 | Oxford Brookes University | United Kingdom | 67.1 | 7,239 | 50,014 | 2.6% |
| #98 | University of East London | United Kingdom | 66.9 | 3,509 | 30,545 | 55.0% |
| #99 | London Metropolitan University | United Kingdom | 66.4 | 4,372 | 29,160 | 71.9% |
| #100 | University of Westminster | United Kingdom | 66.2 | 4,927 | 37,537 | 19.0% |
Research fields where United Kingdom universities rank
Number of United Kingdom universities in the top 100 of each ITS research-field ranking.
How ITS Research Score v3 is constructed
One formula applies to every index-ready institution, using the five most recent complete calendar years: 25% research output, 25% citations, 20% h-index and 5% i10-index (log-normalized so the largest universities do not dominate linearly), 15% citation impact (the institution’s percentile on citations per work, reduced below 500 works so small samples cannot win by chance), 5% publication growth and 5% international-collaboration share. When collaboration data is not yet available, the other weights are rescaled.
Data-quality controls: the unfinished current year is never counted, and a year in which recorded output jumps to more than three times the institution’s usual level while being at least 90% open access is treated as a bulk dataset or repository deposit and scored at the usual level. An affiliation check also removes institutions whose papers mostly do not name them in the author address (OpenAlex sometimes assigns a large university’s papers to a namesake school or college). Raw data are kept and every adjustment is logged. Open-access share and topic diversity are published as separate rankings and do not affect the main score. Citation impact is not field-normalized.
These indicators assess research activity only. They do not measure teaching quality, student experience, employability, reputation, finances or accreditation. Missing data are left missing rather than fabricated.