University of Bolton drops in Sunday Times guide rankings

In 2023, the university was ranked 106th nationwide, and 10th in the North West, ahead of the University of Central Lancashire and University of Cumbria.

In the latest rankings released today for the 2025 edition of the guide, Bolton’s university has dropped 13 places to 119th nationwide, and 11th in the North West – ahead of only the University of Cumbria in the region.

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Nationwide, the university places ahead of just 12 other universities, with 131 listed in the league table.

The methodology of this year’s guide has been tweaked to take into account the university’s sustainability – with the nation’s most sustainable said to be the University of Reading, achieving an 81.8 per cent ranking in the "People and Planet" category.

Bolton, meanwhile, achieved just 14 per cent in the same category. According to the People and Planet organisation, the university scored zero in a number of categories, including recycling, carbon reduction, water reduction, and energy sources.

Bolton also slipped from 12th to 38th for satisfaction with teaching quality, and from 15th to 62nd for the wider undergraduate experience, the guide says.

However, the university gained 26 places to 71st for graduate prospects.

Nationally, the London School of Economics and Political Science was ranked University of the Year for 2025, beating runner-up Sheffield and shortlisted Durham, Leicester, and Warwick.

A 96-page supplement will be published with The Sunday Times on September 22, but the full rankings can be seen on the newspaper’s website now.

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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.”

This year’s edition of the guide uses 2021/22 data for entry standards, firsts, 2:1s, continuation rates, and student-staff ratio to calculate scores.

National Student Survey data from 2023 and 2024 was also used, as well as a percentage score and ranking from People & Planet which assesses the environmental and ethical standards of each university.

A University of Bolton spokesperson said: “Newspapers offer different perspectives on issues.

“The Times has never favoured teaching-intensive universities, preferring to reinforce the long-established prejudice that research-intensive institutions are the best.  

“'Each to their own' is probably the most relevant comment.

“At Bolton, we are proud of our very strong performance year on year with student satisfaction with teaching and this is best reflected in our high ranking yet again in the Guardian (a publication which properly acknowledges the role of different types of university).

“It is also very encouraging to see that we have risen up the rankings in terms of our graduate prospects.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.