Rankings

We’re highly ranked in the UK and world league tables, with our research, teaching and outreach recognised internationally.

Students in a lecture theatre

University league table rankings

World rankings

QS World Rankings

  • In the Top 18% of the world's higher education institutions, from the final list of 1,504 eligible institutions
  • 15th in the UK for Employment Outcomes
  • 21st in the UK for International Faculty
  • Top 100 for Sustainability, ranking 86th
  • Top 200 for International Faculty, ranking 149th
  • Top 200 for International Students, ranking 171st

Our overall QS ranking is based on a combination of subject and specialist rankings, including the above.

Overall, we are:

Employability

The Careers and Entrepreneurship Team at Sussex were winners at the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services’ (AGCAS) awards event in June 2024.

Sussex won the AGCAS Award for Excellence in Supporting Student Employability for the scale, diversity, inclusiveness and sustainability focus of our work experience offer.

Read more about the Awards for Excellence on the AGCAS website.

As noted above, Sussex has also been ranked 17th in the UK for employment outcomes in the QS World University Rankings 2026.

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is an official rating by the Office for Students (OfS) of the quality of teaching and education in universities in the UK.

We were awarded Silver in the 2023 TEF. The outcomes from TEF 2023 will last for four years from September 2023.

A Silver rating means that, at Sussex, the student experience and student outcomes are typically very high quality.

Find out more about the Teaching Excellence Framework on the OfS website.

Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Sussex is a leading research university, as reflected in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF).

For REF 2021, 89% of the research we submitted was categorised “world-leading” (40.6%) or “internationally excellent” (48.4%).

In addition, 93% of our research impact was assessed to be “outstanding” or “very considerable” – up from 80.7% in 2014.

View all our REF results and learn more about REF 2021.

Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF)

Knowledge exchange is a key topic for the University, and an increased focus on knowledge exchange in recent years has resulted in 24% increase in research contracts from small and medium-sized enterprises and a doubling of Intellectual Property income.

83 Sussex spin-outs and student start-ups have been trading for over three years, supporting 651 jobs and attracting a record £43.4m external investment – a material increase to £17.9m reported in 2022-23.

 In KEF 2025, we were placed in the top 20% for our group in four out of the seven measures looked at in KEF (working with business; intellectual property and commercialisation; working with the public, and third-sector and research partnerships).

See our details on the KEF dashboard.

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