King's College London

King’s has been ranked eleventh in the world, second in the UK and fourth in Europe in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, in recognition of the university’s positive social and environmental impact. This prestigious recognition comes in the third edition of the THE Impact Rankings, which assessed submissions from more than 1,000 institutions from across the world.

The pioneering THE Impact Rankings use the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for reporting on the social and environmental impact of universities. The SDGs are a set of 17 goals approved by the 193 member states of the UN which aim to transform the world by 2030. The metrics assessed include the impact of universities’ teaching, research, stewardship and outreach within their local, national and international communities. It is the first university ranking to focus on the broader social contributions of higher education institutions.

In the 2021 THE Impact Rankings, King’s was especially recognised for supporting strong institutions and promoting peace and justice, ranking fourth in the world for SDG 16 ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’. This metric assesses universities’ research on law and international relations, their participation as advisers for government and their policies on academic freedom.

The university also ranked highly for our work with local, national and international partners, placing tenth in the world for SDG 17 ‘Partnerships for the Goals’, which is the only goal all participating universities must provide data on to be included in the overall ranking. King’s successfully delivers against this goal through cross-sectoral dialogue with government bodies and NGOs, international collaboration and research, local and global student volunteering programmes, and our commitment to Service-learning and civic engagement.

Our greatest improvement was for SDG 13 ‘Climate Action’, which saw us increase 30 positions, placing King’s among the top 20 universities in the world for acting to address climate issues. This metric assesses universities’ research on climate change, their use of energy and their preparations for dealing with the consequences of climate change. King’s has had great success in this area, having recently fully divested from all fossil fuels, almost two years ahead of target.

King’s also ranked sixth in the world (joint with Simon Fraser University) for SDG 11 ’Sustainable Cities and Communities’, which explores the interaction between universities and their communities, as well as the role universities play in protecting the environment and acting as custodians of history, culture and heritage.

The university’s other top contributing goal was SDG 3 ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’, which assesses the contribution of universities to tackling diseases such as COVID-19, support for healthcare professions, and services provided for the health and wellbeing of students and staff.

With more than 1,200 universities from 98 countries/regions participating and all 17 UN SDGs assessed, the 2021 THE Impact Rankings is significantly larger than the previous two editions, with the 2020 rankings assessing submissions from 859 universities from 89 territories, while the 2019 inaugural rankings were based on assessments from 560 universities across 11 SDGs.*

The ethos of King’s is to make the world a better place, going above and beyond what is expected of a university. That is why Service is the third and equal part of our academic mission, alongside Education and Research. Service at King’s embodies our commitment to delivering positive social impact at home in London, across the UK and around the world.

Find out more about Service at King’s and what it means to the King’s community in the below video.

Find out more

• Service at King’s
• 2021 Times Higher Education  Impact Rankings
• The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

*1,240 institutions from 98 countries/regions submitted data for the 2021 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which was assessed across 18 separate league tables for each SDG. 1,115 universities met the criteria to be ranked in the overall list, which included a compulsory submission for SDG17 and at least three other SDGs.