These 17 UK unis officially rank among the best in the world in 2026 for sustainability

The new QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 is out, so you can see exactly how much (or how little) your uni cares about the environment. 17 UK unis managed to rank within the top 50 best unis in the world for sustainability. Yay for them.

The QS sustainability rankings include 1,194 different universities. Unis aren’t just scored for their effects on the environment, but also get points for their social impact and for how well managed they are.

The absolute best UK uni for sustainability in 2026 is apparently University College London (UCL). This uni came third in the whole world – behind only Lund University in Sweden, and the University of Toronto in Canada. UCL scored extra well for health and wellbeing, and for employability and opportunities.

Although the University of Oxford ranked 14th in the world, the University of Cambridge came in a measly 267th place. Cambridge only scored 39.4 out of 100 for “good governance”.

Without further ado, here are the best 17 UK unis for sustainability, which managed to make it into the top 50 of the new QS World University Rankings for sustainability.

University of Exeter

17th in the UK, =48th in the world, scored 93.5

University of Birmingham

16th in the UK, =43rd in the world, scored 93.9

University of York

York Uni students enjoying the great outdoors (or pretending to for this pic, anyway)

15th in the UK, 39th in the world, scored 94.2

University of Nottingham

14th in the UK, =37th in the world, scored 94.5

University of Sheffield

13th in the UK, =33rd in the world, scored 94.9

University of Reading

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12th in the UK, =30th in the world, scored 95.3

University of Glasgow

11th in the UK, 27th in the world, scored 95.7

University of Leeds

Leeds students get to visit the massive Roundhay Park

=9th in the UK, =24th in the world, scored 95.8

Durham University

=9th in the UK, =24th in the world, scored 96.9

University of Bristol

8th in the UK, 19th in the world, scored 96.9

King’s College London (KCL)

7th in the UK, =16th in the world, scored 97.2

University of Oxford

6th in the UK, 14th in the world, scored 97.7

University of Manchester

Manchester students, hopefully not littering

5th in the UK, 10th in the world, scored 98.0

Imperial College London

4th in the UK, =7th in the world, scored 89.2

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

3rd in the UK, 6th in the world, scored 98.5

University of Edinburgh

2nd in the UK, 4th in the world, scored 98.7

University College London

1st in the UK, 3rd in the world, scored 99.0

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