Our international reputation

The School of English at Leeds is recognised as among the best in the world. We are known for our innovative research and imaginative teaching, and we also have an excellent reputation with employers both in the UK and abroad.

Our academic staff are actively engaged in cutting-edge research of national and international significance. This means you’ll be taught by internationally renowned, inspirational academics working at the forefront of their fields, bringing exciting expertise across a wide range of subject areas.

Our achievements

• Top 10 in the UK for Creative Writing and English (The Complete University Guide 2026)
• 16^th in the UK for English (The Times and Sunday Times, Good University Guide 2025)
• 36^th in the world for English Language and Literature (QS World Rankings by Subject 2025)

University of Leeds rankings

• 86^th in the world, QS World University Rankings 2026 
• 6^th most targeted by employers, High Fliers 2025 Report 
• 21^st in the UK, Complete University Guide 
• Top 10 UK student city, Best Student Cities 2025 
• We are a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities 

Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021

Every six years, the UK’s four higher education funding bodies undertake an exercise to measure the quality of research undertaken by UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The funding bodies use the outcomes to inform the allocation of their research funding to HEIs. The Research Excellence Framework was the framework used in 2021.

Unit of assessment: English

According to the Research Excellence Framework 2021:

• 100% of submitted impact case study work is "world-leading" or "internationally excellent", of which 88% was scored as "world-leading".
• 100% of submitted research environment activity is "world-leading" or "internationally excellent"
• 92% of submitted outputs are rated as "world-leading" or "internationally excellent".