THE University Sustainability Impact Rankings 2026: UK leads but Asian universities dominate

Asia has the highest number of universities in the 2026 Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings, which assess universities against all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than half of the universities in the global ranking are Asian, and five are in the global top 10.

The University of Manchester is ranked first in the ranking, which was published on 24/06/2026. The UK has climbed to first place after two years of being ranked second, ending a four-year run at the top for the Western Sydney University, ranked third this year. Griffith University, also from Australia, is ranked second this year, up from 4^th in 2025.

Australia, Malaysia and Canada each have two top 10 universities in the overall ranking. However, the UK dominates number one spots on individual SDG tables, with five first positions and three joint first positions, and has the highest number of top 200 universities, THE pointed out.

The Philippines has the most universities in the ranking (160), followed by India, with 110. The global ranking welcomes four new countries in…