The University of Southampton has been ranked ninth in the UK in the QS World Rankings for Sustainability 2025 – climbing four places on its position last year.
Worldwide, the rankings place the University of Southampton in 23rd place, up from 34th last year.
The QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, now in their third year, look at how universities are addressing the world’s greatest environmental and social challenges. A total of 1,743 universities from around the world are assessed in the rankings, including 98 in the UK.
University of Southampton Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith said: “Sustainability is vital in everything that we do as universities, from our research and teaching to our engagement activities. As institutions, we have a unique and critical role to play in tackling challenges related to climate change.
“It is wonderful to see the dedication and progress we are making here at Southampton towards ensuring a more sustainable future being reflected in these rankings, and being top 10 in the UK is a superb endorsement of our ongoing commitment and efforts.”
The rankings assess universities’ performance across environmental impact, social impact, and governance.
The university was ranked 22nd in the world for environmental impact, recognising the impact of the institution’s education, research and operations towards an environmentally sustainable future.
For social impact, the university ranked 43rd in the world. This encompasses the university’s activities around employability, equality, education, health and wellbeing, and knowledge sharing.
Under its sustainability ambitions, the university is aiming for every single student to have an opportunity to learn about sustainability by 2025, and has developed e-learning to achieve this.
The university’s Sustainability and Resilience Institute (SRI) was launched last year, bringing together colleagues from different disciplines to work with experts from around the world to tackle the most critical challenges facing our society and environment.
Alice Brock, Sustainable Development Goals Project Officer for the SRI, said: “We are really proud that the work we are doing on sustainability across the university has been recognised through these rankings. Being in the top 10 worldwide is a fantastic endorsement and illustrates the commitment we are making as an institution to delivering on our University Strategy.
“We have worked really hard over the past year to make big strides towards our sustainability commitments, and we are looking forward to continuing to make advances through the work of our Sustainability and Resilience Institute.”
Find out more about sustainability at the University of Southampton and the university’s Sustainability and Resilience Institute.
