The University of Westminster has been ranked among the top 13% of over 2,300 universities worldwide for its contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking 2025.
The THE Impact Ranking is the only global performance table that assesses universities against the UN 17 SDGs. Since its first submission in 2019, the University of Westminster has been committed to living up to and building on its excellent performance in this prestigious league table every year. This is the sixth year in a row that the University has maintained its high overall ranking, with notable achievements across several individual SDGs, contributing to the exceptional performance of the UK in the league table.
This year, Westminster scored a total of 80.8 out of 100 for its last submission in November 2024, covering the 2022–2023 academic year. This places the University in the top 13% overall – up from the top 26% since it first reported six years ago. Westminster has successfully held its place in the top 300 universities in the world, even though the number of universities assessed increased from 1,963 institutions to 2,318 compared to last year.
The Impact Rankings allow for institutions to submit evidence for any number of SDGs. Westminster continues to submit evidence to 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, 5: Gender Equality, 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, 10: Reduced Inequalities, 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, 13: Climate Action, 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions and 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
Key areas where the University did especially well in this round were SDGs 5: Gender Equality, 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and 17: Partnership for the Goals. The University ranked in the top 13% out of 1,559 universities worldwide for SDG 5 and ranked 66th out of 973 universities across the globe for SDG 12. For SDG 17, Westminster ranked in the top 8% out of 2,389 universities.
These results reflect the University's institutional commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion and its Being Westminster 2022-2029 strategic values of being responsible, progressive and compassionate. The rankings also validate Westminster’s efforts to work in partnership in support of the SDGs as well as its commitment to Education for Sustainable Development.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement and Employability Professor Dibyesh Anand, who co-chairs the University’s dedicated SDG Coordinating Group with membership from colleagues and students across the University, said: “SDGs provide a globally recognised framework to make societies and institutions more just, fair, and sustainable for this and the future generations. Over the year, I have myself learnt so much about the amazing range of Sustainable Development work being done within our diverse institution that I am not surprised about our rankings. We take this recognition as both a cause for celebration and a prompt to resolve to do even better in the future.”
Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Bonfield, who is also Professor of Engineering and Sustainable Development, said: “It is so encouraging to see us continue to grow our positive impact towards a more sustainable world. This is a massive, inclusive, cross-university endeavour involving many thousands of people in our Westminster community and I wholeheartedly commend them for their superb and collective effort.”
Morgan Lirette, Sustainable Development Advisor at the University of Westminster, said: “Our continued success and improvement in the THE Impact Ranking is a testament to the growing understanding and championing of SDGs by colleagues across the University. As a sustainability professional, it’s a dream to have this kind of support from all corners of an organisation. This makes Westminster incredibly unique.”
Find out more about Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster, including the University’s latest Sustainable Development Goals report.
Learn about the University recent achievement of the EcoCampus Platinum Award for its sustainable planning and performance.
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