The REF is based on universities submitting some of their research work. Overall, there were a total of 1,911 submissions to the REF for assessment conducted by the four HE funding bodies for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Any research outputs that were submitted for the exercise were assessed using a scale of 1* to 4* which meant that the research output was deemed one of the following:

4* = World-leading
3* = Internationally excellent
2* = Internationally recognised
1* = Nationally recognized

2020 rank 2020 rank order by GPA Institution Quality profile of institutions % GPA (0-4) Research power Rank on research
power 2020
order by GPA 4* 3* 2* 1* U/C
1 1 Institute of Cancer Research 50 42 8 0 1 3.4 351 87
2 6 Imperial College London 46 44 9 1 0 3.36 4,223 8
3 4 London School of Economics and Political Science 50 37 11 1 1 3.35 1,783 28
4 4 University of Oxford 48 39 11 1 0 3.34 8,047 2
5 2 University of Cambridge 47 40 12 1 0 3.33 6,952 3
6 22 Cardiff University 40 47 11 1 0 3.27 2,412 18
7 22 King’s College London 40 45 13 2 0 3.23 4,422 6
8 7 University College London 43 39 15 2 1 3.22 8,261 1
8 9 University of Warwick 37 50 12 1 0 3.22 2,997 15
10 3 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London 42 37 20 1 0 3.2 1,004 46
11 12 University of Edinburgh 38 45 15 2 0 3.18 5,575 4
11 14 University of Bristol 36 47 15 1 0 3.18 3,618 9
11 13 Queen Mary University of London 34 52 13 1 0 3.18 2,133 22
14 14 University of Sheffield 33 52 13 1 0 3.17 3,307 13
14 10 University of York 35 48 15 1 0 3.17 2,038 23
14 20 University of Bath 32 55 11 1 0 3.17 1,463 35
17 8 University of Manchester 35 47 16 1 0 3.16 4,933 5
18 14 University of Southampton 33 51 14 1 0 3.15 3,506 11
18 20 Lancaster University 35 48 15 2 0 3.15 1,826 26
20 14 Durham University 33 50 15 1 0 3.14 2,325 20
21 14 University of Leeds 32 50 15 2 0 3.13 3,597 10
21 14 University of St Andrews 32 50 16 1 0 3.13 1,623 32
23 35 University of East Anglia 30 52 16 1 0 3.11 1,415 36
24 33 University of Glasgow 31 50 17 2 0 3.1 3,408 12
24 n/a Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 31 49 19 1 0 3.1 109 114
26 24 University of Nottingham 32 49 17 2 1 3.09 4,340 7
26 27 Newcastle University 31 48 19 1 0 3.09 2,744 16
26 24 Royal Holloway, University of London 30 51 17 1 0 3.09 1,168 40
26 52 Swansea University 31 49 18 2 0 3.09 1,142 42
30 28 University of Exeter 29 53 16 2 0 3.08 2,267 21
31 26 University of Birmingham 28 53 16 2 0 3.07 3,271 14
31 49 Cranfield University 27 54 19 0 0 3.07 687 61
33 40 University of Liverpool 27 54 18 2 0 3.06 2,325 19
33 45 Heriot-Watt University 26 56 16 2 0 3.06 1,078 44
35 11 University of Essex 30 48 21 2 0 3.05 1,034 45
35 52 Aston University 29 49 20 1 0 3.05 608 69
37 50 University of Strathclyde 28 51 19 2 0 3.04 1,696 31
38 42 University of Reading 27 51 20 2 0 3.03 1,788 27
38 40 University of Dundee 31 44 21 3 0 3.03 1,199 39
40 30 University of Sussex 28 48 22 2 1 3.01 1,507 34
41 103 Cardiff Metropolitan University 25 55 18 2 1 3 105 115
42 39 Queen’s University Belfast 25 52 21 2 0 2.99 2,596 17
42 52 Bangor University 26 51 20 3 1 2.99 697 59
42 66 St George’s, University of London 30 40 30 0 0 2.99 166 108
45 35 University of Surrey 22 56 20 2 0 2.98 1,367 37
46 38 University of Aberdeen 24 52 22 2 0 2.97 1,774 29
46 33 Birkbeck, University of London 27 46 23 3 0 2.97 973 48
48 56 University of Stirling 25 49 24 2 0 2.96 891 52
49 28 Loughborough University 25 49 23 3 0 2.95 1,905 25
49 31 University of Kent 25 48 24 3 0 2.95 1,744 30
49 45 City University London 23 52 21 3 1 2.95 1,116 43
49 62 University of Bradford 24 50 22 2 1 2.95 365 85
53 51 University of Leicester 20 55 22 2 0 2.93 1,968 24
54 45 Ulster University 24 47 24 3 1 2.91 1,306 38
54 43 The Open University 21 51 26 2 0 2.91 1,153 41
56 35 Goldsmiths, University of London 24 46 27 2 1 2.9 692 60
57 56 Keele University 21 50 26 3 1 2.88 769 56
58 45 Aberystwyth University 22 45 28 4 1 2.84 900 51
58 59 University of Brighton 23 45 27 5 1 2.84 595 70
60 72 University of Roehampton 22 44 29 5 0 2.83 422 78
61 31 Soas, University of London 23 43 29 5 1 2.82 660 63
62 81 Liverpool John Moores University 18 49 29 3 1 2.79 677 62
63 88 Sheffield Hallam University 18 47 29 5 0 2.76 624 65
63 96 University of the Highlands and Islands 13 56 26 4 1 2.76 188 104
65 68 University of Portsmouth 16 48 32 4 0 2.75 775 55
66 75 Plymouth University 15 50 30 3 1 2.74 1,003 47
66 78 Manchester Metropolitan University 15 50 30 4 1 2.74 857 53
66 71 University of Westminster 20 43 30 7 1 2.74 576 72
69 75 Bournemouth University 16 43 36 4 0 2.72 440 76
70 81 Northumbria University 16 44 34 6 0 2.71 929 50
70 68 University of East London 17 45 32 6 0 2.71 351 86
72 59 University of Hull 14 47 33 5 0 2.7 960 49
72 72 University of the West of England 15 46 33 6 0 2.7 808 54
72 91 Kingston University 16 44 35 5 0 2.7 374 84
75 63 Brunel University London 14 47 31 6 1 2.67 1,540 33
75 63 De Montfort University 16 42 37 5 1 2.67 583 71
75 93 Glasgow Caledonian University 13 48 33 5 0 2.67 409 79
75 106 Coventry University 15 46 31 8 0 2.67 408 80
79 72 Oxford Brookes University 14 45 35 6 1 2.66 717 57
80 84 University of Huddersfield 15 44 35 6 1 2.65 619 67
80 129 Queen Margaret University 15 42 34 8 0 2.65 113 113
82 65 Birmingham City University 16 44 30 8 1 2.64 322 89
83 58 University of Hertfordshire 11 46 36 6 1 2.61 500 73
84 78 Nottingham Trent University 14 41 35 8 1 2.59 637 64
85 75 Middlesex University 12 46 32 8 2 2.58 701 58
85 95 Teesside University 9 50 33 8 1 2.58 225 99
87 61 University of Salford 11 43 38 7 2 2.54 616 68
87 100 University of Lincoln 13 40 37 8 2 2.54 450 75
89 85 University of Bedfordshire 14 35 40 9 1 2.52 385 83
89 68 London South Bank University 6 48 38 7 1 2.52 256 95
89 109 Edinburgh Napier University 10 44 38 7 2 2.52 249 96
89 102 Bath Spa University 13 40 34 11 2 2.52 187 105
93 96 University of Central Lancashire 9 43 41 7 1 2.51 620 66
93 91 University of South Wales 12 38 40 9 1 2.51 294 92
95 96 University of Chichester 15 33 42 9 2 2.5 129 112
96 107 London Metropolitan University 11 39 35 13 2 2.44 196 103
97 n/a University of Wales Trinity Saint David 11 35 40 13 2 2.39 97 118
98 111 Canterbury Christ Church University 7 39 41 12 1 2.38 326 88
98 116 University of Gloucestershire 10 34 40 15 0 2.38 134 111
100 86 Anglia Ruskin University 7 38 41 12 2 2.37 399 81
101 107 University of the West of Scotland 6 38 43 12 1 2.36 279 94
102 87 Robert Gordon University 8 35 43 14 1 2.35 239 98
103 100 University of Greenwich 9 33 43 13 2 2.33 469 74
104 78 University of Winchester 8 36 39 16 2 2.32 168 107
105 93 University of Wolverhampton 8 33 44 12 3 2.31 392 82
106 124 Edge Hill University 7 33 39 17 4 2.22 307 91
107 127 Liverpool Hope University 7 30 42 20 2 2.21 249 97
108 121 Staffordshire University 6 30 41 21 1 2.2 178 106
109 119 Bucks New University 7 31 41 17 4 2.19 53 124
110 88 Leeds Beckett University 8 26 41 21 3 2.16 435 77
110 109 Abertay University 5 27 50 14 4 2.16 144 109
112 117 Glyndwr University 3 33 42 22 1 2.15 73 120
113 130 University of Cumbria 6 23 49 21 1 2.13 57 123
113 123 Newman University 5 27 48 18 3 2.13 50 125
115 104 University of Sunderland 6 26 44 21 3 2.12 312 90
116 117 University of Northampton 4 26 47 19 3 2.09 197 102
117 114 University of Chester 6 25 44 22 3 2.08 288 93
117 122 University of Worcester 5 28 41 23 4 2.08 217 101
119 96 University of Derby 5 24 45 23 3 2.07 221 100
120 128 York St John University 6 24 43 21 6 2.04 139 110
120 n/a Falmouth University 7 21 48 16 8 2.04 103 116
120 113 University of Bolton 6 26 41 21 6 2.04 100 117
123 104 Leeds Trinity University 5 21 51 18 6 2.01 40 126
124 115 St Mary’s University, Twickenham 11 19 33 32 5 1.98 89 119
125 131 Bishop Grosseteste University 6 18 46 27 4 1.96 22 127
126 119 University of West London 5 20 38 35 1 1.92 69 121
127 126 Southampton Solent University 2 17 37 29 15 1.63 58 122
128 n/a Writtle College 0 17 24 29 30 1.29 16 128
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