“An amazing few days” – Leicester’s rise up the Guardian rankings completes a hat-trick of good news
The University of Leicester is celebrating a hat-trick of good news within the space of a few days following a rise in the 2025 Guardian University Guide rankings.
Leicester has moved up 14 places in the Guardian table to 34th position out of 122 UK universities.
The news completes an incredible few days in which Leicester was also crowned Daily Mail University of the Year 2025 and shortlisted for the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2024 award.
The Guardian league table ranks institutions by subject, looking at student satisfaction, staff numbers, spending and career prospects.
The table takes into account eight different metrics, with Leicester seeing a rise in four compared to the previous year: Career Prospects, Expenditure per Student, National Student Survey (NSS) Feedback and NSS Teaching.
The University’s best-performing subjects were Criminology (6th), Physiotherapy (7th) and Chemistry (9th). English and Medicine were both also top 10-ranked courses. The subjects enjoying the biggest rises were History and Psychology, which both moved up 18 places in the rankings to 12th and 37th, respectively.
The Guardian rankings, Daily Mail award win and Times Higher Education award shortlisting build on a string of recent successes for the University.
In the past year, Leicester received an overall Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023, making it one of a small number of institutions nationally to achieve TEF Gold alongside a top 30 REF performance, indicating outstanding performance in both teaching and research. In July, the University received the news it was ranked in the top 30 UK institutions of the National Student Survey, clinching 27th place according to analysis by the Times Higher Education.
Professor Elizabeth Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education at the University of Leicester, said: “To say it’s been an amazing few days at the University is something of an understatement.
“A 14-place rise in the Guardian rankings would always be a reason to celebrate, however, when you add in the Daily Mail award and THE shortlisting, plus the accolades we’ve earned over the past year, it’s clear to see the University is excelling across the board.
“We are proud of the high-quality education we provide at the University of Leicester, where students are taught by world leading researchers in a friendly and inclusive environment. I’m delighted to see our efforts are being recognised in league table rankings and various high-profile national awards.”