The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

University of Leicester

United KingdomROR 04h699437
=312
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 186–626 of 2,287 · score 48.5
Research Index =226

How it scores

Research
91
Alumni outcomes
75
Admissions & earnings
31/91

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)
80.0% src
Offer holders who enrol
19% src
Median earnings 5 years after graduating (LEO)
£35,400 src
Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
8 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
2 src
Founders, billionaires and $30M+ alumni
not on the published top lists; estimated
Students (undergraduate / total)
14,675 / 18,990 src

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

Research Index

A · Quality
87.1
B · Strength
62.3

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: 150. On strength alone: =492. 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
13.3% (12.5%–14.2%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
1.6% (1.3%–1.9%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
434
All papers (fractional count)
3,277
International co-authored
67.5%
Open access
83.2%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
17 (1.58 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=130range 90–189 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences=547range 409–715 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science=146range 79–270 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering428range 273–668 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=353range 231–536 of 1,262

Position over time

top 30%2006–2009: 231 of 5712020–2023: 226 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

=226Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

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

No Nobel, Fields, Turing or Abel laureates linked to this university in Wikidata.