Nottingham Trent University rises to a top 25 place in the Guardian University Guide 2026
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has performed strongly in the Guardian University Guide 2026, rising an impressive 24 places to rank 25th out of 123 universities.
By Sarah McLeod | Published on 15 September 2025
Categories: Press office;
The Guide uses eight measures of performance, covering all stages of the student life cycle. This gives future students an indication as to how likely they are to have a positive student experience while at university, as well as potential career prospects upon leaving.
Data is drawn from various sources, including the annual Graduate Outcomes Survey and the National Student Survey (NSS) – where students give feedback on their experience whilst at university.
NTU saw improvements across a number of key metrics, including satisfaction with teaching, assessment and feedback. There was also an improvement in the ‘value added’ while studying at NTU, which compares students’ degree outcomes against their entry qualifications, and is a measure of the effectiveness of our support for their academic performance.
In addition to the overall ranking, NTU was also ranked top in the UK for Forensic Science – with an impressive 100/100 given to the courses on offer.
Other notable performers include:
- Animal Science and Agriculture courses achieving a top 5 place
- Interior Design and Creative Writing courses ranking in the top 10
- All Nottingham Business School courses achieving a top 20 place
- Overall, 13 subjects were in the top 25% (up from 7 in last year’s guide), including Computer Science, Mental Health Nursing, Graphic Design, Fashion and Textiles.
Vice-Chancellor Steve Denton said of the results: “These results are a fantastic achievement for NTU, and testament to all of our colleagues’ hard work in supporting our students.
“This is great news, and a great start to the new academic year.”
Notes for Editors
Press enquiries please contact Sarah McLeod, Corporate Communications Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8735, or via email.
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been named UK ‘University of the Year’ five times in six years, (Times Higher Education Awards 2017, The Guardian University Awards 2019, The Times and Sunday Times 2018 and 2023, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023) and is consistently one of the top performing modern universities in the UK.
Students have voted us the best university in the UK and 1st in the UK for student employability (Uni Compare 2025)
NTU is 4th in the UK for number of undergraduate students (HESA 2023-24) with over 36,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across six campuses. It has an international student population of 6,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
NTU owns two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for outstanding achievements in research (2015, 2021). The first recognises NTU’s research on the safety and security of global citizens. The second was awarded for research in science, engineering, arts and humanities to investigate and restore cultural objects, buildings and heritage. The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded GOLD in the national 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment.
NTU is a top 10 for sport (British Universities and Colleges Sport league table 2025) and was named as Sports University of the Year (Daily Mail University Guide 2025).
NTU is a holder of the University Mental Health Charter recognising the commitment an institution has shown towards continuous improvement in the area of mental health and wellbeing.
NTU is the most environmentally sustainable university in the UK and second in the world (UI Green Metric University World Rankings, 2024).