University of Leicester Rankings 2026

University of Leicester Overall Rankings 2026

Leicester appears inside the world top 200 on three of the five global ranking bodies tracked here, but sits in the 300s on QS and ARWU. The single largest gap is between US News (#166) and ARWU (#301-400), a roughly 200-position spread driven by how each body weights research output versus academic brand.

Averaging Leicester’s verified ranks across the five bodies puts it close to #240 worldwide, with US News and THE pulling the average up and QS and ARWU pulling it down. For Indian applicants, this cross-body spread is the clearest signal that Leicester’s degree value depends more on subject choice than on the overall world rank a single agency assigns.

Key insight: The 148-position gap between Leicester’s US News (#166) and QS (=#314) ranks reflects a research-led profile, which is why employers in research-heavy sectors weight Leicester degrees higher than the headline QS number would suggest.

University of Leicester Rankings: Bottom Line for Indian Students

For Indian applicants, the practical read on Leicester rankings is shaped by three signals: a sharper subject rank than world rank, a stable UK position around #32 on the Collegedunia Study Abroad list, and a stronger US News number than peer non-Russell UK universities. The closest Indian alternatives on overall global rank are IIT Bombay and AIIMS Delhi, both of which serve different applicant pools.

University of Leicester QS World University Rankings 2027

QS, which scores universities on academic reputation, employer opinion, research citations and faculty mix, places Leicester at =#314 in QS World University Rankings 2027. The 5-year trend below shows a clear V-shape: Leicester improved from 2023 to 2024, then slipped back through 2026 before partly recovering in 2027.

Tracking the QS World rank year-on-year tells the cleanest story of where Leicester’s brand sits with international academics and employers.

Across these five editions Leicester’s average QS World rank is close to #295, with the 2024 peak (#272) and the 2026 trough (#326) marking a 54-place range. The 12-place recovery in 2027 narrows the gap to Russell Group peers but the QS pattern still trails Leicester’s THE and US News positions by more than 100 places, so the QS line alone understates the university’s research footprint.

Trend signal: The QS World rank has moved within a 54-place band across five years, signalling a stable mid-tier UK position rather than a downward slide; this matters because Indian employers tracking Leicester’s QS rank year-to-year see no methodology-driven cliff.

Read More: University of Leicester Courses and Fees 2026 for Indian Students

Collegedunia Study Abroad Rankings of University of Leicester

Collegedunia Study Abroad ranks Leicester #32 in the UK and #193 globally on its 2026 list, placing the university above its QS World position by around 121 places. The CD view weights factors relevant to Indian applicants such as Indian-student outcomes, scholarship coverage and admission access, which is why it lands closer to the THE and US News numbers than to QS.

The CD UK rank places Leicester inside the top 25% of UK universities Collegedunia tracks, around the same band as Sussex and Strathclyde on the global list. For Indian applicants comparing UK shortlists, the CD position is a more useful benchmark than QS alone because it accounts for India-relevant variables that QS does not weight.

India-relevance: The 121-place gap between CD #193 and QS =#314 reflects Leicester’s stronger Indian-student admit pattern and scholarship coverage than its global brand would suggest; for Indian applicants this is the rank pair worth reading together.

University of Leicester Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2026

Times Higher Education, which weights teaching, research output, citation impact and international outlook, places Leicester at =#192 in THE World University Rankings 2026. The 5-year line shows Leicester moved between #163 and #201, with the THE rank typically 100 to 150 places stronger than the QS number.

The 5-year THE average works out near #186, roughly 109 places ahead of Leicester’s QS average over the same window. The 2023 peak at #163 marked the university’s best THE result in five years; the rank has since settled in the #190-200 band, signalling stable research weight rather than improvement or decline.

Key insight: Leicester also ranks =#26 globally for research quality in THE 2026, a sub-metric that puts it joint 5th in the UK; for Indian applicants targeting PhD or research masters routes this sub-rank carries more weight than the overall #192.

University of Leicester US News Best Global University Rankings 2026-2027

US News Best Global Universities, which weights research reputation, publication volume and citation impact, places Leicester at #166 worldwide in 2026-2027. The 3-year movement is a clean upward run, with the university climbing 51 places since the 2023 edition.

The 51-place gain from 2023 to 2026-2027 is the largest 3-year improvement of any major ranking body covered for Leicester. US News reflects research output more than employer or academic surveys, so the trend reads as growing research weight rather than a brand swing.

What it signals: US News now places Leicester 148 places higher than QS does; for Indian applicants targeting research masters or PhD programmes, the US News number is the closer match to how research recruiters in the US and Europe weight Leicester degrees.

University of Leicester ARWU (Shanghai) Rankings 2025

ARWU, which scores universities almost entirely on research metrics such as Nobel laureates, highly cited researchers and papers in Nature and Science, places Leicester in the #301-400 band globally in ARWU 2025. The 5-year line is the flattest of any body tracked: Leicester has stayed in the same band every year since 2021.

A flat band across five editions signals neither improvement nor decline, just steady research output at a level ARWU treats as second tier. ARWU rewards Nobel- and Fields-Medal-style research density, so Leicester’s stable band reflects the absence of headline-grabbing prizes rather than a research weakness.

Trend signal: The ARWU subject ranks tell a stronger story than the world rank: Leicester’s Clinical Medicine sits at #27 globally and Business Administration at #51-75 in ARWU 2025, both well ahead of the overall #301-400 band.

University of Leicester Subject Rankings

Leicester is officially ranked in 25 subjects in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, with Archaeology its single highest-placed discipline. The strongest subject ranks sit a long way ahead of the overall world rank, which is the signal Indian applicants targeting these specific fields should read first.

University of Leicester Archaeology Ranking

Leicester ranks =#26 globally for Archaeology in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, the university’s single highest position across any ranking. The rank improved 14 places from #40 in QS 2025, the sharpest single-year subject jump for the university across the editions tracked here.

India-relevance: Archaeology at Leicester now sits 288 places ahead of the university’s QS World rank; for Indian applicants targeting this subject, the degree carries a top-30 global credential regardless of the headline university rank.

University of Leicester Medicine Rankings

Medicine at Leicester sits at #187 globally in QS Subjects 2026, but ARWU 2025 places Clinical Medicine far higher at #27 globally, and THE 2026 ranks Medical and Health at #101-125. The wide spread between QS and ARWU reflects the difference between reputation-weighted and research-weighted views of the same medical school.

What it signals: Indian applicants targeting MBBS, postgraduate medicine or biomedical research at Leicester get a stronger signal from ARWU and THE than from QS; the research-based ranks consistently place Leicester medicine ahead of the QS number.

University of Leicester Computer Science and Engineering Rankings

Computer Science at Leicester ranks #401-450 globally in QS Subjects 2026 and #251-300 in THE Subjects 2026. Engineering sits in the same #251-300 THE band, while Business and Economics is at #401-500 in THE Subjects 2026.

Trend signal: CS and Engineering at Leicester rank below the university’s overall position, the inverse of its Archaeology and Medicine pattern; Indian applicants targeting CS or Engineering get a stronger rank-to-degree match at higher-ranked UK CS specialists.

University of Leicester Geology and Earth Science Rankings

Geology and Geophysics at Leicester are both ranked #101-150 globally in QS Subjects 2026. The Leicester Earth Observation Science group and the National Space Centre partnership feed the university’s space-and-earth ranking strength.

India-relevance: Earth sciences at Leicester sit roughly 160 places ahead of the university’s overall QS rank; for Indian applicants targeting space science, geophysics or planetary research, the subject signal is far stronger than the world rank.

University of Leicester Other Global Rankings

Three further global rankings carry verified Leicester data and round out the picture. TIME’s 2026 list places Leicester higher than any other body tracked here, while QS Sustainability and CWUR sit closer to the THE and US News range.

The QS Sustainability rank climbed 32 places in one edition, from #157 in 2025 to #125 in 2026, the sharpest year-on-year jump across any Leicester ranking. For Indian applicants weighing sustainability credentials, the trajectory matters more than the absolute number.

University of Leicester Rankings: Indian Student Outlook

For Indian students, Leicester’s rank pattern reads cleanest when split by programme rather than read as a single headline. The subject ranks for Archaeology, Clinical Medicine, Geology and Geophysics sit well inside the global top 150, while overall rankings cluster in the #190 to #314 range.

Programmes that draw the most Indian applicants to Leicester:

• MSc Advanced Computer Science: Common postgraduate pick despite the QS CS subject rank sitting in the 401-450 band; chosen for entry threshold and course design.
• MSc Cloud Computing and Data Science: One of the most-applied Indian shortlist masters at Leicester, driven by recruiter access in UK tech.
• Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS): Backed by Leicester’s #27 ARWU Clinical Medicine rank and the Leicester Medical School’s NHS teaching base.
• MSc Management and MBA programmes: Leverages the #51-75 ARWU Business and Administration subject rank.
• MSc Space Science and MSc Earth Observation: Tied to Leicester’s #101-150 QS Geology and Geophysics ranks and the National Space Centre partnership.

Indian applicants weighing Leicester against UK shortlists can use the University of Leicester reviews on Collegedunia to read first-hand Indian student accounts of programme quality and placement experience.