The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

University of Bristol

United KingdomROR 0524sp257
=103
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 66–277 of 2,287 · score 60.6
Research Index 101

How it scores

Research
96
Alumni outcomes
92
Admissions & earnings
13/91

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 2,287 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country (United Kingdom).

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Offer rate (UK 18-year-olds, UCAS)
76.5% src
Offer holders who enrol
17% src
Median earnings 5 years after graduating (LEO)
£43,100 src
Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
58 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
5 src
Founders, billionaires and $30M+ alumni
not on the published top lists; estimated
Students (undergraduate / total)
23,865 / 32,435 src

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
90.4
B · Strength
87.3

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: 122. On strength alone: =166. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
14.2% (13.6%–14.7%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
1.5% (1.3%–1.7%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
1,099
All papers (fractional count)
7,749
International co-authored
59.7%
Open access
87.4%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
12 (0.54 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences=70range 54–109 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences=22range 14–39 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science110range 74–226 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering=243range 175–386 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=128range 87–245 of 1,262

Position over time

top 3%top 10%2006–2009: 54 of 5712020–2023: 101 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

101Research Index 2026
57QS 2027
82THE 2027
91ARWU 2026

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

Alumni laureates
3
Staff laureates
5

Alumni: 3 Nobel. Most recent: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (Nobel Literature, 2008), Cecil Frank Powell (Nobel Physics, 1950), Paul Dirac (Nobel Physics, 1933). Counted from Wikidata (CC0). Alumni laureates count toward the overall ranking per student (10 of 65 global weight points); staff laureates are shown for context only.