Manchester Tops 2026 THE Sustainability Impact Rankings

On June 24, the Times Higher Education (THE) Sustainability Impact Ratings (formerly the THE Impact Rankings) were released. The rankings are the only global performance ranking that assesses universities against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Institutions are evaluated across 18 rankings: one overall ranking and 17 individual SDG rankings.

This year, 1,646 universities from 116 countries and territories participated in the rankings. Universities from four countries made their debut appearances in the rankings: Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, and Tajikistan.

The University of Manchester in the United Kingdom ranked first overall, ending the four-year winning streak of Australia’s Western Sydney University. This marks the University of Manchester’s second time at the top since 2021. Western Sydney University placed third globally this year. Australia’s Griffith University ranked second, while Canada’s Queen’s University came in fourth.

Among the top 10 universities, five are from Asia, including two from Malaysia. Universiti Sains Malaysia ranked fifth, followed by Hanyang University of South Korea in sixth place. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Hokkaido University were tied for seventh. Continental Europe had one institution in the top 10: France’s Institut Agro, marking the first time a French institution has entered the overall top 10. The University of Alberta in Canada and National Taiwan University in Taiwan, China were tied for 10th place worldwide.

From a regional perspective, the United Kingdom led the individual SDG rankings, securing five outright first-place positions and three joint first-place positions. The UK also had the largest number of universities ranked within the global top 200.

Meanwhile, Asia was the region with the highest number of ranked institutions. Across all 18 rankings, more than half of the participating universities were from Asia, totaling 962 institutions. Five Asian universities placed among the global top 10. The Philippines had the largest number of institutions represented in the overall ranking, with 160 universities, followed by India, with 110 universities included in the rankings.