Research Excellence Framework Rankings 2024

The REF is based on universities submitting some of their research work. Overall, there were a total of 1,911 submissions to the REF for assessment conducted by the four HE funding bodies for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Any research outputs that were submitted for the exercise were assessed using a scale of 1* to 4* which meant that the research output was deemed one of the following:

4* = World-leading
3* = Internationally excellent
2* = Internationally recognised
1* = Nationally recognized

2024 rank	2024 rank order by GPA	Institution	Quality profile of institutions %					GPA (0-4)	Research power	Rank on research power 2024
order by GPA			4*	3*	2*	1*	U/C
1	1	Institute of Cancer Research	50	42	8	0	1	3.4	351	87
2	6	Imperial College London	46	44	9	1	0	3.36	4,223	8
3	4	London School of Economics and Political Science	50	37	11	1	1	3.35	1,783	28
4	4	University of Oxford	48	39	11	1	0	3.34	8,047	2
5	2	University of Cambridge	47	40	12	1	0	3.33	6,952	3
6	22	Cardiff University	40	47	11	1	0	3.27	2,412	18
7	22	King’s College London	40	45	13	2	0	3.23	4,422	6
8	7	University College London	43	39	15	2	1	3.22	8,261	1
8	9	University of Warwick	37	50	12	1	0	3.22	2,997	15
10	3	London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London	42	37	20	1	0	3.2	1,004	46
11	12	University of Edinburgh	38	45	15	2	0	3.18	5,575	4
11	14	University of Bristol	36	47	15	1	0	3.18	3,618	9
11	13	Queen Mary University of London	34	52	13	1	0	3.18	2,133	22
14	14	University of Sheffield	33	52	13	1	0	3.17	3,307	13
14	10	University of York	35	48	15	1	0	3.17	2,038	23
14	20	University of Bath	32	55	11	1	0	3.17	1,463	35
17	8	University of Manchester	35	47	16	1	0	3.16	4,933	5
18	14	University of Southampton	33	51	14	1	0	3.15	3,506	11
18	20	Lancaster University	35	48	15	2	0	3.15	1,826	26
20	14	Durham University	33	50	15	1	0	3.14	2,325	20
21	14	University of Leeds	32	50	15	2	0	3.13	3,597	10
21	14	University of St Andrews	32	50	16	1	0	3.13	1,623	32
23	35	University of East Anglia	30	52	16	1	0	3.11	1,415	36
24	33	University of Glasgow	31	50	17	2	0	3.1	3,408	12
24	n/a	Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine	31	49	19	1	0	3.1	109	114
26	24	University of Nottingham	32	49	17	2	1	3.09	4,340	7
26	27	Newcastle University	31	48	19	1	0	3.09	2,744	16
26	24	Royal Holloway, University of London	30	51	17	1	0	3.09	1,168	40
26	52	Swansea University	31	49	18	2	0	3.09	1,142	42
30	28	University of Exeter	29	53	16	2	0	3.08	2,267	21
31	26	University of Birmingham	28	53	16	2	0	3.07	3,271	14
31	49	Cranfield University	27	54	19	0	0	3.07	687	61
33	40	University of Liverpool	27	54	18	2	0	3.06	2,325	19
33	45	Heriot-Watt University	26	56	16	2	0	3.06	1,078	44
35	11	University of Essex	30	48	21	2	0	3.05	1,034	45
35	52	Aston University	29	49	20	1	0	3.05	608	69
37	50	University of Strathclyde	28	51	19	2	0	3.04	1,696	31
38	42	University of Reading	27	51	20	2	0	3.03	1,788	27
38	40	University of Dundee	31	44	21	3	0	3.03	1,199	39
40	30	University of Sussex	28	48	22	2	1	3.01	1,507	34
41	103	Cardiff Metropolitan University	25	55	18	2	1	3	105	115
42	39	Queen’s University Belfast	25	52	21	2	0	2.99	2,596	17
42	52	Bangor University	26	51	20	3	1	2.99	697	59
42	66	St George’s, University of London	30	40	30	0	0	2.99	166	108
45	35	University of Surrey	22	56	20	2	0	2.98	1,367	37
46	38	University of Aberdeen	24	52	22	2	0	2.97	1,774	29
46	33	Birkbeck, University of London	27	46	23	3	0	2.97	973	48
48	56	University of Stirling	25	49	24	2	0	2.96	891	52
49	28	Loughborough University	25	49	23	3	0	2.95	1,905	25
49	31	University of Kent	25	48	24	3	0	2.95	1,744	30
49	45	City University London	23	52	21	3	1	2.95	1,116	43
49	62	University of Bradford	24	50	22	2	1	2.95	365	85
53	51	University of Leicester	20	55	22	2	0	2.93	1,968	24
54	45	Ulster University	24	47	24	3	1	2.91	1,306	38
54	43	The Open University	21	51	26	2	0	2.91	1,153	41
56	35	Goldsmiths, University of London	24	46	27	2	1	2.9	692	60
57	56	Keele University	21	50	26	3	1	2.88	769	56
58	45	Aberystwyth University	22	45	28	4	1	2.84	900	51
58	59	University of Brighton	23	45	27	5	1	2.84	595	70
60	72	University of Roehampton	22	44	29	5	0	2.83	422	78
61	31	Soas, University of London	23	43	29	5	1	2.82	660	63
62	81	Liverpool John Moores University	18	49	29	3	1	2.79	677	62
63	88	Sheffield Hallam University	18	47	29	5	0	2.76	624	65
63	96	University of the Highlands and Islands	13	56	26	4	1	2.76	188	104
65	68	University of Portsmouth	16	48	32	4	0	2.75	775	55
66	75	Plymouth University	15	50	30	3	1	2.74	1,003	47
66	78	Manchester Metropolitan University	15	50	30	4	1	2.74	857	53
66	71	University of Westminster	20	43	30	7	1	2.74	576	72
69	75	Bournemouth University	16	43	36	4	0	2.72	440	76
70	81	Northumbria University	16	44	34	6	0	2.71	929	50
70	68	University of East London	17	45	32	6	0	2.71	351	86
72	59	University of Hull	14	47	33	5	0	2.7	960	49
72	72	University of the West of England	15	46	33	6	0	2.7	808	54
72	91	Kingston University	16	44	35	5	0	2.7	374	84
75	63	Brunel University London	14	47	31	6	1	2.67	1,540	33
75	63	De Montfort University	16	42	37	5	1	2.67	583	71
75	93	Glasgow Caledonian University	13	48	33	5	0	2.67	409	79
75	106	Coventry University	15	46	31	8	0	2.67	408	80
79	72	Oxford Brookes University	14	45	35	6	1	2.66	717	57
80	84	University of Huddersfield	15	44	35	6	1	2.65	619	67
80	129	Queen Margaret University	15	42	34	8	0	2.65	113	113
82	65	Birmingham City University	16	44	30	8	1	2.64	322	89
83	58	University of Hertfordshire	11	46	36	6	1	2.61	500	73
84	78	Nottingham Trent University	14	41	35	8	1	2.59	637	64
85	75	Middlesex University	12	46	32	8	2	2.58	701	58
85	95	Teesside University	9	50	33	8	1	2.58	225	99
87	61	University of Salford	11	43	38	7	2	2.54	616	68
87	100	University of Lincoln	13	40	37	8	2	2.54	450	75
89	85	University of Bedfordshire	14	35	40	9	1	2.52	385	83
89	68	London South Bank University	6	48	38	7	1	2.52	256	95
89	109	Edinburgh Napier University	10	44	38	7	2	2.52	249	96
89	102	Bath Spa University	13	40	34	11	2	2.52	187	105
93	96	University of Central Lancashire	9	43	41	7	1	2.51	620	66
93	91	University of South Wales	12	38	40	9	1	2.51	294	92
95	96	University of Chichester	15	33	42	9	2	2.5	129	112
96	107	London Metropolitan University	11	39	35	13	2	2.44	196	103
97	n/a	University of Wales Trinity Saint David	11	35	40	13	2	2.39	97	118
98	111	Canterbury Christ Church University	7	39	41	12	1	2.38	326	88
98	116	University of Gloucestershire	10	34	40	15	0	2.38	134	111
100	86	Anglia Ruskin University	7	38	41	12	2	2.37	399	81
101	107	University of the West of Scotland	6	38	43	12	1	2.36	279	94
102	87	Robert Gordon University	8	35	43	14	1	2.35	239	98
103	100	University of Greenwich	9	33	43	13	2	2.33	469	74
104	78	University of Winchester	8	36	39	16	2	2.32	168	107
105	93	University of Wolverhampton	8	33	44	12	3	2.31	392	82
106	124	Edge Hill University	7	33	39	17	4	2.22	307	91
107	127	Liverpool Hope University	7	30	42	20	2	2.21	249	97
108	121	Staffordshire University	6	30	41	21	1	2.2	178	106
109	119	Bucks New University	7	31	41	17	4	2.19	53	124
110	88	Leeds Beckett University	8	26	41	21	3	2.16	435	77
110	109	Abertay University	5	27	50	14	4	2.16	144	109
112	117	Glyndwr University	3	33	42	22	1	2.15	73	120
113	130	University of Cumbria	6	23	49	21	1	2.13	57	123
113	123	Newman University	5	27	48	18	3	2.13	50	125
115	104	University of Sunderland	6	26	44	21	3	2.12	312	90
116	117	University of Northampton	4	26	47	19	3	2.09	197	102
117	114	University of Chester	6	25	44	22	3	2.08	288	93
117	122	University of Worcester	5	28	41	23	4	2.08	217	101
119	96	University of Derby	5	24	45	23	3	2.07	221	100
120	128	York St John University	6	24	43	21	6	2.04	139	110
120	n/a	Falmouth University	7	21	48	16	8	2.04	103	116
120	113	University of Bolton	6	26	41	21	6	2.04	100	117
123	104	Leeds Trinity University	5	21	51	18	6	2.01	40	126
124	115	St Mary’s University, Twickenham	11	19	33	32	5	1.98	89	119
125	131	Bishop Grosseteste University	6	18	46	27	4	1.96	22	127
126	119	University of West London	5	20	38	35	1	1.92	69	121
127	126	Southampton Solent University	2	17	37	29	15	1.63	58	122
128	n/a	Writtle College	0	17	24	29	30	1.29	16	128