Sunday Times University of the Year

Not to be confused with Times Higher Education University of the Year.

University of the Year
Awarded for	Recognition in Higher Education
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	The Times and The Sunday Times
First awarded	1999 (1999)
Currently held by	London School of Economics and Political Science
Website	timesonline.co.uk/universityguide

The Sunday Times University of the Year is an annual award given to a British university or other higher education institution by The Sunday Times. The current University of the Year for 2025 is the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The award is given as part of the annual Times and Sunday Times University Guide since the second supplement's second edition in 1999. Though the guide contains a league table of UK universities compiled from various statistics, the award is not necessarily given to the university at the top (in fact, it only has been in 2007 and 2010). Instead, a university is chosen by a panel of experts based on all round academic excellence.

In addition to the winner, shortlisted universities are also named. A runners-up position was introduced in 2006.

From 2009 onwards, the University Guide took the year of its name from the following year (so the guide published in 2009 is known as 2010, the guide published in 2010 is known as 2011 etc.)

Although similar in name, this award has no connection to the "University of the Year" award given by Times Higher Education.

List of winners

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Also shortlisted
2025	London School of Economics and Political Science	University of Sheffield	Durham University University of Leicester University of Warwick
2024	University College London	University of Exeter	University of Buckingham University of Liverpool London School of Economics and Political Science University of York
2023	University of Bath	University of Exeter	University of Birmingham University of Oxford University of Surrey
2022	Imperial College London	University of Warwick	Edge Hill University Ulster University University of York
2021	University of Oxford	Queen Mary, University of London	University of Bath Coventry University University of Strathclyde
2020	University of St Andrews	Harper Adams University	London School of Economics and Political Science Royal Holloway, University of London Staffordshire University
2019	Loughborough University	Swansea University	University of Aberdeen University of Nottingham University of St Andrews
2018	Lancaster University	Loughborough University	University of Essex University of Glasgow University of Nottingham
2017	University of Leeds	University of St Andrews	University of Dundee
2016	University of Surrey	University of Leeds	Durham University Imperial College London University of Kent
2015	University of Warwick	University of Leeds	Coventry University Loughborough University University of St Andrews
2014	University of Birmingham	University of Leicester	Coventry University University of St Andrews University of Surrey
2013	University of Exeter	University of Leicester	Plymouth University
2012	University of Bath	University of Exeter	University of Leeds The Robert Gordon University University of Surrey
2011	King's College London	University of Nottingham	Edge Hill University University of Exeter London School of Economics and Political Science Oxford Brookes University
2010 (Published 2009)	University of Oxford	University College London	University of Birmingham Edge Hill University University of Glasgow University of Stirling
2009	Change in name to represent forthcoming year.
2008	Loughborough University	Imperial College London	Aston University University of Sheffield University of Southampton
2007	University of Cambridge	University of St Andrews	Edge Hill University Harper Adams University College University of Leicester Queen's University Belfast
2006	University of Manchester	University of Exeter	King's College London Lancaster University University of St Andrews
2005	Durham University		University of Bath University of East Anglia University of Hull Loughborough University
2004	University College London		University of Dundee Durham University Kingston University University of Manchester
2003	University of York		Cardiff University University of Exeter Loughborough University Oxford Brookes University
2002	University of St Andrews		The London Institute University of Plymouth University of Southampton University of Warwick
2001	University of Sheffield		University of Exeter The London Institute Oxford Brookes University University of Ulster University of Warwick
2000	University of Newcastle upon Tyne		University of Bath Kingston University University of Nottingham University of York
1999	University of Brighton		University of Bristol Loughborough University University of Northumbria at Newcastle

Universities with multiple appearances

Universities with 3+ Shortlists

University	Shortlists
Edge Hill University	4
University of St Andrews
University of Bath	3
Coventry University
Durham University
University of Exeter
London School of Economics and Political Science
Loughborough University
University of Nottingham
Oxford Brookes University
University of Surrey
University of York
University of Warwick

Universities with 2+ Runner-ups

University	Runner-Ups
University of Exeter	4
University of Leeds	2
University of Leicester
University of St Andrews

Universities with 2+ Wins

University	Wins
University College London	2
Loughborough University
University of Oxford
University of St Andrews
University of Bath