Swansea University Shines With Dramatic Climb In Times Higher Education Rankings

Swansea University has achieved its highest ever ranking in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016/2017, the definitive list of the very best institutions in the World. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The University now appears amongst the top 350 elite institutions across the globe with a ranking between 301-350 compared to a rank of 351-400th last year. In addition, the ranking body has also ranked the University 38th in the whole UK. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

This new world ranking has been achieved due to impressive growth in the University’s research impact score known as Citations. This is based on the amount of times the research conducted at Swansea University is cited or referred to by other researchers from across the world helping to advance the global knowledge of any given subject. In this regard the University has been ranked an impressive 265th in the world, up 78 places on the previous year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Another area of strength featured in the rankings where Swansea continues to excel is the International Outlook score which improved from 72.4 to 75.8 and is ranked 160th in the world. This was achieved through growing the institution’s proportion of international students and the proportion of research conducted with other top international institutions. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Strategic Development said: “I am delighted at our spectacular overall increase in the THE World University Rankings, one of the most well-respected lists of the best global institutions. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Particularly impressive is the improvement in the citations research impact score. We are now ranked within the top 300 globally, further demonstrating that Swansea continues to improve the levels of world-leading research which is shared and expanded upon by us and others for the benefit of societies across the world. Our strong top 200 international outlook score clearly marks us out as an ‘international’ institution as we seek to attract more international students, more world leading international academic staff and to partner our research with more elite international institutions. This result correlates with the opening of the University’s new Bay Campus which has partnerships with international research organisations, and shows how we are further extending our global reach as we move towards our centenary year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The last ten years have seen a dramatic period of transformation and growth for the University. This new ranking, coupled with our consistently high rankings in other independent surveys and league tables show how Swansea University is advancing its reputation as a leading light amongst global academic institutions.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The University’s achievement in the THE World University Rankings follows a wave of recent successes at Swansea University demonstrating the quality and depth of experience students will benefit from, including: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

• The opening of Swansea University’s new Bay Campus in September last year, cited as a ‘global exemplar’ in its use of higher education and industry, within the top five developments of its kind in Europe and expected to deliver economic impact in excess of £3bn over a ten-year period.
• Achieving the University’s ambition to become a UK top 30 research institution – Swansea was ranked 26th (up from 52nd) in the Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF2014).
• Now ranked 390th in the world (top 4%), up 11 places in the QS World University Rankings® 2016-17.
• Swansea is now ranked 14th in the UK for overall student satisfaction, as measured in the National Student Survey 2016.
• Swansea has been ranked 39th in the Guardian Good University Guide 2017 – our highest ever UK league table ranking.
• Awarded 5-Stars for excellence in the global QS Stars Quality Assessment, placing Swansea amongst other world-leading institutions to have also achieved 5-Stars such as Harvard and Oxford.
• Swansea University being chosen as host for the British Science Festival 2016. The Festival took place in early September, and proved to be a vibrant celebration of science, engineering and technology, shining a spotlight on the University’s world-leading research.