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18 Jun 2024

Sustainable success for Nottingham in new university rankings

The University of Nottingham has been recognised among the world’s top higher education institutions driving positive global change, in a new league table released in June.

Nottingham has been ranked in the Top 200 in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2024, which are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Also revealed in June, the university is once again ranked among the top 20 in the UK in the QS World University Rankings 2025 (108th in the world).

Research-sowing-seeds-of-sustainability

The THE rankings measure the performance of more than 2,000 institutions in 125 countries and regions across their research, stewardship, outreach and teaching activities in relation to all 17 of the individual development goals.

Nottingham has been ranked in the Top 100 for its world-leading research in a number of individual SDG areas – Zero Hunger, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life on Land.

The announcement took place at the Global Sustainable Development Congress in Bangkok where 3,000 global thought leaders and innovators gathered to discuss urgent solutions to the international sustainability emergency.

Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham Professor Jane Norman delivered a keynote speech to delegates at the four-day congress on the topic of The Sustainability Crises of Our Time: Energy Decarbonisation and Sustainable Industry, alongside Gita Wirjawan, honorary professor in the University of Nottingham’s School of Politics.

I’m proud of the work the University of Nottingham carries out with partners that contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals and I’m delighted that we are ranked in the top 100 for a number of SDGs. It is clear there is some way to go in achieving the SDGs and at the University of Nottingham, we recognise how important it is to work in partnership to tackle these global issues.
Professor Jane Norman

Nottingham was ranked in the Top 100 in the world across six of the SDGs:

  • Zero Hunger (79 out of 803 institutions)

    Fighting hidden hunger

    As part of an international research partnership funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the university is fighting hidden hunger, which affects millions across sub-Saharan Africa due to the nutrient deficiencies in their diet.

  • Clean Water and Sanitation (Joint 75 out of 867 institutions)

    Blue-greening cities for climate change adaptation

    The university works with partners in Nottingham and across the world to show that protecting communities against flood risk can also make them greener, healthier and more pleasant places to live.

  • Decent Work and Economic Growth (Joint 53 out of 1149 institutions)

    The Rights Lab: fighting exploitation

    The Rights Lab, the world’s largest group of modern slavery researchers, works with government and industry to protect workers from exploitation and bring an end to the blight of slavery.

  • Climate Action (Joint 86 out of 924 institutions)

    Retrofit road map for city’s housing

    University researchers are delivering a project that will inform the retrofit of Nottingham’s existing housing stock to improve energy efficiency and bring the city closer to its 2028 target for net zero emissions.

  • Life Below Water (Joint 63 out of 628 institutions)

    Informing UN report on plastic marine pollution

    Evidence-based recommendations from the university’s Water Works research group were presented to the United Nations Environment Assembly and informed its subsequent report on marine plastic pollution and call for urgent global action.

  • Life on Land (60 out of 741 institutions)

    Living with elephants

    The University of Nottingham Malaysia is helping safeguard the country’s elephants. By working with government and communities, researchers are informing elephant-friendly approaches to ease conflict between farmers and our biggest land animal.

    Find our more about our work to tackle SDGs across the globe >

A rankings reminder

June also saw the release of the annual QS World University Rankings, with Nottingham placing 108th in the world and in the top 20 in the UK once again.

This follows our ranking as the third most targeted university by top UK employers (High Fliers 2024) - a reminder of how our graduates are not only talented, but trailblazers in their fields, sought after by leading employers! We’re also ranked in the top two Russell Group universities for work experience, ahead of the likes of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Warwick (Rate My Placement Best Universities for Work Experience). 

We’re also proud to be The Times and The Sunday Times Sports University of the Year 2024 – just another example of how the University of Nottingham continues to lead the way.

And in the most recent (2021) Research Excellence Framework (REF) – the UK's official assessment of the quality of research in UK higher education institutions – Nottingham was placed 7th in the UK for research power, according to analysis by Times Higher Education (THE).

100% of our research is recognised internationally, and 90% is classed as 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent', according to THE's analysis. 51% of our research is assessed as 'world-leading' for its impact, according to our own analysis of the REF findings.

Find out more about our REF results >