Swansea University has been named The Times and The Sunday Times’ Welsh University of the Year 2025.
Published today, Friday 20 September 2024, the guide also ranks Swansea 37th in the UK, up four places from last year.
According to the guide, Swansea has taken the honour thanks to its consistent focus on career-building, a seafront student experience, and a four-place year-on-year rise. It also broke into the top 300 QS World University Rankings with a leap of 118 places earlier this year.
This marks the second time Swansea has received the Welsh University of the Year accolade, having been honoured with the inaugural title in 2016.
This latest triumph follows a string of impressive achievements for Swansea University. Recently named the best university in Wales by The Guardian University Guide 2025, it ranks 29th out of 122 institutions in the UK. Swansea also reached its highest-ever position in the QS World University Rankings 2025, climbing to 298th globally and breaking into the top 300 for the first time. Additionally, the university was ranked among the top 100 in Europe in the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2025.
Professor Paul Boyle, Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University, said: “We are delighted to be named The Times’ Welsh University of the Year for 2025, and to have risen in this year’s overall rankings. While these are challenging times for our sector, these achievements reflect the hard work and commitment of colleagues across our whole University community.
“These accolades also underscore our enduring commitment to offering our students a first-class experience at Swansea University, and to providing the high-quality teaching – shaped and informed by our research excellence – which prepares them for a successful future.”
The guide provides prospective students and their families with essential information for making informed higher education choices, evaluating aspects from teaching quality and student experience to degree completion rates and graduate employment prospects.
Helen Davies, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “The best universities — whether they were founded in the 15th century or 2005 — are local and global powerhouses of intellectual thought and creativity, from the arts to science, that can power economic regeneration and lead the way to a better life. But what and where to study — and how to pay for it — has never been tougher. This is where our comprehensive guide can help.
“This year we have tweaked our methodology to keep up with contemporary concerns around climate change and careers and have added in a sustainability metric, teaming up with People & Planet, and boosted the weighting of graduate prospects.
“The higher education sector is facing unprecedented challenges from debates on free speech to financial stability, but it is important to remember the force for good that going to university can be. See how the universities compare subject by subject, a guide on campus life, and what scholarships and bursaries may be on offer online.”
Full interactive tables and additional features are available on The Times and The Sunday Times website.