The University of Manchester has gone down to 53rd in this year’s Times Higher Education World University Rankings, sandwiched between Shanghai Jiao Tong University (ranked 52nd) and the University of Science and Technology of China (also ranked 53rd).
Amongst UK universities, the University of Manchester maintained the 8th spot, between the London School of Economics (7th) and the University of Bristol (9th).
When looking at which faculties perform best within the university, Social Sciences led the pack at 28th worldwide, with Law bringing up the rear at 93rd.
The rankings consider the 11 UN Sustainable Development Goals as a metric to measure Universities’ global impacts.
Overall, the university has placed second globally in these rankings with the University of Manchester being described as promoting biodiversity on campus.
Additionally, the Students’ Union has made positive steps to becoming plastic-free.
The University is described as a place where research has an “international impact” as demonstrated by 26 Nobel laureates to the university’s name.
The University benefits from a rich research background as well as being “enriched by a commitment to social change”.
Described by the Times Higher Education rankings as the UK’s first truly civic university, the University receives high regards from the company.
There is an aim to provide opportunity to all with more than £15 million a year invested in financial support for disadvantaged students.
Digging into the details of these goals, this year, the University placed first in the category ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ improving since 2022 when the university placed 4th.
Remarking on the result in a recent interview with The Mancunion, President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison said: “they shouldn’t define who you are” as an institution.
Ivison has also acknowledged that there was room for improvement, “However, we recognise there is always room for improvement. Collectively, over the next decade, we need to be more impactful, more engaged, more innovative, and more committed to excellence than we have ever been in our history”.
These results come amidst an increasingly difficult outlook for the wider UK university sector.
With the strained finances of frozen tuition fees, there’s a shortfall of approximately £2,500 a year for a home undergraduate student.
Furthermore, warnings from Universities UK have emphasised that revenue from international students is under threat, after the government introduced restrictions on student visas resulting in 16% fewer international student applications this year compared to 2023.
