How we rank

UK and international league tables are published annually to help prospective students make informed choices about different institutions.

The Times and Sunday Times University Guide

Cardiff University is ranked 28th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026, making Cardiff the highest ranked university in Wales.

The Times and Sunday Times University Guide measures student satisfaction, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios, services and facilities spend, and dropout rates.

The Complete University Guide

The University is ranked 22^nd in The Complete University Guide 2026, and tops the league table in Wales.

The Complete University Guide has been publishing university and related league tables online since 2007. The subject league tables use four measures: Student Satisfaction, Research Quality, Entry Standards and Graduate Prospects.

Guardian University Guide

The University ranked joint 37^th in the Guardian University Guide for 2026, scoring well in the areas such as career prospects and student-staff ratio.

The methodology for the Guardian University Guide focuses on subject-level league tables. Eight statistical measures are employed to approximate our performance in teaching each subject.

QS World University Rankings

Ranked 181^st, we are Wales’s highest ranked University and remain among the UK’s best. The QS World University Rankings is the definitive guide to the world’s top universities.

Over 8,000 universities are evaluated for inclusion in the QS World University Rankings.

Academic Ranking of World Universities

Cardiff University is ranked within the 201-300^th band in the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026, an influential league table of global institutions.

Listing the top 1,000 universities in the world, the ranking is recognised as a benchmark of international university performance.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

We are ranked 201-250^th in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026.

The ranking includes more than 2,000 universities, and judges research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Times Higher Education Impact Rankings

The 2025 THE Impact Rankings table ranks Cardiff University 101-200^th out of 2,300 institutions worldwide.

The Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They explore the impact a university can make, specifically by looking at themes of poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

The Impact Rankings provide a showcase for work being delivered by universities in communities and is an opportunity to shine the light on institutional activities and efforts not covered in other rankings.

We ranked 29^th in the world for Climate Action.

Daily Mail University Guide

Cardiff University is ranked 30^th in the Daily Mail University Guide 2026.