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Facts and figures

Facts and figures about the University, including rankings and quality marks.

Cardiff University is a member of the Russell Group, a group of 24 leading UK research intensive universities.

We are the 21st largest university in the UK in terms of student numbers with a total income for 2023/24 of £650m.

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 90% of our research was confirmed as world-leading or internationally excellent making us a top 20 university in the UK for the overall quality of our research.

  • 31,505 students
  • £127M in research contracts
  • 82% student satisfaction

Our students

We have 31,505 students enrolled, representing 142 countries.

  • 24,645 undergraduates
  • 6,860 postgraduates (1,565 Postgraduate Research, 5,300 Postgraduate Taught)
  • 5,040 international students (non-UK)
  • 82% overall satisfaction in National Student Survey.

Student number confirmed by Higher Education Student Statistics (HESA), 2024/25.

Our graduates

Our graduates are sought-after by employers - more so than most other major UK universities.

  • we are ranked the 12th best UK university for employability in the 2026 Times Good University Guide.
  • 95% of our graduates were in employment and/or further study, or doing other activities, such as travelling, 15 months after their course ended.*
  • 205,000 alumni in 202 countries.

*Graduate Outcomes 2022/23 survey results published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA open data is published under the (CC BY 4.0) licence.

Our research

We have a world-leading research community with a strong and broad research base:

  • we are a top 20 university in the UK for the overall quality of our research (19th) impact (11th) and environment (16th) REF 2021
  • we are 14th in the UK for Research Power which demonstrates the scale and quality of our research REF 2021
  • our research grants and contracts exceeds £126M
  • we have won seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes
  • we are 2nd in the Russell Group (4th in the UK) for intellectual property licenses granted to non-commercial organisations, 2023/24.
  • we are 3rd in the Russell Group (4th in the UK) for the of intellectual property licenses granted to SMEs, 2023/24.
  • we are 11th in the UK for patent applications filed by external parties.
  • we are 8th in the UK for total intellectual property income
  • we are 12th in the UK for estimated turnover (£25M) of spins outs with university ownership.
  • our researchers include two Nobel Prize winners - Professor Sir Martin Evans and Professor Robert Huber