Imperial retains top spot in UK university league table

Imperial College London has been named as the UK’s top university for the second year in a row.

Imperial was praised by the Daily Mail’s University Guide for the quality of its research and employment outcomes for students, with the university coming top across all three measures for graduate employment. The University Guide also highlighted Imperial’s ‘strong social conscience’ and praised the university for having ‘one of the most progressive bursary programmes in the UK’.

The league table measures universities against 12 key performance indicators, including teaching excellence, student experience and support, research quality and the proportion of first-generation students.

Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, said: "This recognition reaffirms what makes Imperial special – our STEMB focus, groundbreaking research, and vibrant London location make Imperial an inspiring place to work and study. Every day, our talented staff and students demonstrate the power of innovation and a deep commitment to solving real-world challenges. They can be proud that they’re using their talents to address some of the world’s biggest challenges and shaping a better future for humanity." 

The ranking is the latest in a string of recent successes for the university. In June, Imperial rose to second place in the QS World University Rankings, placing top in the UK and Europe, and was praised for its world-leading research performance, outstanding employability scores, and exceptional sustainability commitment.

Imperial also achieved its best-ever results in the UK’s most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise, and a Gold rating in the UK’s Teaching Excellence Framework. The university also placed among the world’s top ten universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2024 and was named University of the Year by the Guardian University Guide 2023.

The Daily Mail’s University Guide follows the launch of Imperial’s Science for Humanity strategy, which aims to maximise Imperial’s potential as a global force for good, using science to try to understand more of the universe and improve the lives of more people in it.

Building on Imperial’s reputation as a world-leading university for science, technology, engineering, medicine and business (STEMB), the strategy focuses on building and harnessing multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research at unprecedented scale to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic growth.

Read our new strategy in full on Imperial's website.

World-leading university

Imperial is a world-leading university for science, technology, engineering, medicine and business (STEMB), where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact.

Across our nine campuses and throughout our Imperial Global network, our 22,000 students, 8,000 staff, and partners work together on scientific discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. Their work navigates some of the world’s toughest challenges in global health, climate change, AI, business leadership and more.

Founded in 1907, Imperial’s future builds on a distinguished past, having pioneered penicillin, holography and fibre optics. Today, Imperial combines exceptional teaching, world-class facilities and a habit of interdisciplinary practice to unlock scientific imagination.