An exterior shot of a building on Highfield Campus

Rankings and reputation

The University of Southampton is among the top 24 UK universities committed to maintaining the highest research and teaching standards. We're also a founding member of the Russell Group - an indicator of quality university education.

  • Top 17 UK University

    The Complete University Guide 2026

  • Global top 100 university

    QS World University Rankings 2026

"These results reflect the hard and persistent work of a huge number of colleagues who teach and support learning here at Southampton and are a demonstration of our status as a leading global university and our commitment to providing the best possible education."

Professor Deborah Gill, Vice-President (Education) 

UK rankings

International rankings

Times Higher Education

QS World University Rankings

  • 14th in the UK According to QS World University Rankings 2026
  • Three subjects in the global top 50, according to QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025: 13th Nursing, 36th Archaeology, 40th Earth and Marine Sciences.
  • Twelve subjects in the top 100 globally: 51st-100th Geology, 51st-100th Geophysics, 51st-100th Philosophy, 51st-100th Statistics and Operational Research, 75th Physics and Astronomy, 81st Medicine, 83rd Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 93rd Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering, 97th Accounting & Finance.

“I chose to study at the University of Southampton because of its strong international reputation and consistently high rankings in global university league tables. Being part of the University of Southampton community feels like being part of something vibrant and inclusive.” 

Maria Lemba, Economics and Finance, 2024; MSc Economics and Finance, 2025 

Student satisfaction

The National Student Survey (NSS) gathers feedback from mainly final-year undergraduates about their time in UK universities. Highlights from our NSS 2025 results include:

  • 94% of students responded that teaching staff were good at explaining things
  • 89% of students feel it’s easy to reach out to teaching staff for things like guidance, support, and information
  • 89% of students feel their course is intellectually stimulating. There’s been an increase in students seeing a difference made by their input
A portrait image of Professor Deborah Gill, Vice-President. She's wearing a patterned red jacket and smiling for the camera against a white background.
Professor Deborah Gill, Vice-President (Education)
View Deborah's staff profile
We’ve been listening to our students and working to better understand how we can improve their learning experiences and outcomes, inspire them in their future careers and enable them to thrive.

Research and innovation excellence

We are a research-intensive university, with continued substantial growth in research funding and seventh in the UK for the total value of The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grants. We are also a founding partner of SETsquared, the university business incubator ranked number one in the world by UBI Global.

Our incredible research facilities support our world-leading research across our campuses in Southampton, Winchester, Malaysia, and India. 

According to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021:

  • 92% of our research is world leading or internationally excellent, which assessed the quality of research in UK higher education institutions
  • we are in the top 10% of UK universities and 4th in the Russell Group for impact demonstrating the real-world benefit of our research
  • over 97% of our research environment is world-leading or internationally excellent

  • Global #1 business incubator

    Ranked by UBI Global 

  • No. 7 in UK for research impact

    Research Excellence Framework 2014

Honours and awards

Southampton is one of the first universities in the UK to be named an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education. The Gold Award complements the University's existing status as a Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Research, which it first obtained in 2012.