Rankings and Awards
Our successes, impacts and achievements
We take great pride in our achievements. They’re testament to the hard work of our dedicated staff, and the ambition and enthusiasm of our students.
Aston is University of the Year for Student Success 2025 (Daily Mail University Guide 2025)
The University beat 129 UK universities to be crowned the UK’s best for student success due to its impressive results in graduate outcomes, including high earnings, highly skilled jobs and proportion of students achieving a first or 2:1.
Aston University has risen 23 places to be ranked 423rd globally in the latest QS World University Rankings
This improves on last year's performance when it rose 118 places. The rise sees the University placed in the top 10% of evaluated institutions in the world.
The QS World University Rankings provide authoritative and independent evaluations of institutions, helping to drive institutional performance and guide students in their decision-making.
It is the most comprehensive ranking of its kind, this year evaluating 5,663 institutions, with the 2025 edition reflecting changes in methodology that prioritize student-relevant issues like sustainability and employability.
Triple Gold, Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
Aston University has been awarded Triple Gold – the highest possible rating for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023.
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS). It assesses and rates universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for academic quality and standards. Aston University has achieved the best possible TEF rating – Gold overall and Gold for both underpinning aspects: Student Experience and Student Outcomes.
Runner Up for Graduate Employment, The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2024
Aston University is the University of the Year Runner Up for Graduate Employment in The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2024. The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide now ranks Aston University at 35th nationally, an improvement of ten places since 2023. The university is ranked at 25th for graduate prospects and at 22nd for continuation rate.
Top 25 UK University, The Guardian University Guide
Aston University is ranked 21st in the UK in the Guardian University Guide, 2025.
Among the best in the world for business and management
Aston University has risen to 66th place in the world (and into the top 10 in the UK) in the 2024 QS World Rankings by Subject for Business and Management Studies.
Outstanding earnings after graduation
Graduates of Aston University are among the highest paid in the country five years after graduating, according to new data released by the Department for Education.
The 2022 Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data shows that employed Aston University graduates have the 16th largest median salary overall five years after graduation at £33,400.
Top 10 Students’ Union
Aston Students’ Union was rated 8th in the UK in the 2022 What Uni League Table, which is based on votes from more than 30,000 students across the country.
Top 30% of Global Institutions
Aston University is ranked 446th in the 2024 QS World University Ranking, placing the University in the top 30% of global institutions and 46th place nationally.
Key accolades over the past few years include:
- University of the Year, 2020 (The Guardian)
- Outstanding Entrepreneurial University, 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards)
- Buildings That Inspire: Aston Students' Union (The Guardian University Awards, 2020)
- Gold Athena SWAN award for impact towards gender equality
- What our students say
Aston University is ranked 4th in the UK, by UniCompare, whose table is based on votes from our students, graduates and other UniCompare users (2022). 97% of those who voted said they would recommend Aston University to a friend.
- Sustainability
Sustainability is very important to us. Aston conducts research into greener energy sources, and educates students and staff on sustainability, to ensure our campus facilitates sustainable practices. We climbed 309 places in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, from 640 overall in 2023, to 331 in 2024. Each university's environmental impact, social impact and governance was assessed and ranked separately, before being combined to give an overall rank.
As well as making the top 25% of universities overall globally, Aston University ranked 131 for equality, and at 172 for health and wellbeing, part of the social impact metric.
- REF
Aston University received ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ accreditations for 79% of its research in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. In addition, 74% of the University’s research has been rated “very considerable” or “outstanding” for impact, reach and significance
- Equality and Diversity
We are proud to have one of the most diverse student communities in the country. Aston also holds an Athena SWAN Gold Award – a reflection of the impact we have started to make towards equality for both students and staff.
Rankings
- Complete University Guide 2024
League table rank: 41st
- 93.1% Degree completion
- 20th in the UK for Graduate prospects - on track
- The Guardian University Guide 2025
League table rank: 21
- The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
League table rank: 35th
- National Student Survey 2024
- Aston University received a total positivity score of 80.9%
- Biological Sciences and Computer Science with Business among courses with over 90% satisfaction
- The University’s communication of wellbeing provision also improved its positivity score
- People and Planet University League 2022/23
30th out of 154 UK Universities and Colleges.
- Student Employability
Aston University is the University of the Year Runner Up for Graduate Employment in The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2024.
In addition to this, the long term success of our graduates is reflected in the 2022 Longitudinal Education Outcomes results.
Graduates of Aston University are among the highest paid in the country five years after graduating, according to data released by the Department for Education.
The 2022 Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data shows that employed Aston University graduates have the 16th largest median salary overall five years after graduation at £33,400.
- Aston Business School
Aston Business School was shortlisted for Business School of the Year in the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards 2023.
Click below to discover more about Aston Business School's awards, rankings and accreditations.
Subject-specific Rankings
The programme pages on our website list further details on Aston's rankings and statistics related to your chosen subject. Just use the 'Find a Course' button in the top right corner of this page to find your chosen subject and discover why Aston is the best place for you to study.
