After coming in at 139th in the 2023 ranking, the university slipped to 168th the following year, before climbing back up to 157th in 2025. This is Newcastle University’s highest place in the ranking since 2023, placing 144th overall out of 2,191 institutions from 115 countries and territories, which places it in the top 20 for universities in the UK.
Vice-Chancellor and President of Newcastle University, Professor Chris Day, has spoken positively about the university’s placement in the ranking, saying “I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of our University colleagues, our students and partners which this result reflects.”
As for the university’s ranking in each key area, the figures paint many different pictures.
"Newcastle University scored very highly in the categories of Research Quality and International Outlook..."
Newcastle University scored very highly in the categories of Research Quality and International Outlook, with scores of 93 and 89.5 out of 100 respectively. Its high score in research quality in particular ranks it 65th for research globally, and one of the highest scores in research for a university in the UK. The university has also maintained its high score in Industry, after it received a major boost over the last couple of years to end up ranking 5th for Industry in the UK.
"Where the university scored lower is in the categories of Teaching and Research Environment..."
Where the university scored lower is in the categories of Teaching and Research Environment, with respective scores of 39.8 and 43.2. While these scores still land Newcastle in the top 30 of UK universities for both categories, there is no denying that the numbers are somewhat lacklustre when compared to the university’s performance in other categories. With that said, they are still the university’s highest figures in those categories within the last ten years.
Overall, Newcastle University performed very strongly in the Times rankings, and the numbers suggest that the institution is one of the top universities in the world for research on the international stage. Oxford remains the highest-ranking university in the world for the tenth year running, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Harvard and Princeton being the best-performing universities in the United States.
Sources:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2025/10/theworldrankings2026/