I am incredibly proud that King’s continues to be recognised for our work on social and environmental sustainability. Ranking 16th out of nearly 2,000 institutions worldwide is a significant achievement and reflects our determination to respond to the global sustainability challenges of our time. As we look to our future and the launch of our new University strategy, we will continue to take bold action to build a more sustainable, just and resilient future.
Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor & President
20 November 2025
King's ranks 9th in Europe and 16th globally for social and environmental sustainability
King's has maintained its position as one of the world’s leading universities for social and environmental impact in the QS World University Sustainability Rankings 2026.
King's has ranked 16th out of 1,994 institutions in the world in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026, retaining its status as a university in the top 1% in the world for sustainability.
King’s score increased from 96.6 in 2025 to 97.2 in 2026, reflecting the University’s achievements across three categories: Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance.
King's received a small increase in score in all three categories, with the category of Social Impact seeing the most improvement, with a score of 98.2, up from 96.5 the previous year.
The number of institutions increased by 215 in the 2026 rankings, underlining King’s ongoing success to remain in the top 20.
Eight subcategories were also scored, with King's seeing particular improvements in the Impact of Education and Environmental Education subcategories.
The Impact of Education score jumped from 87.6 to 97.5, considering metrics such as the impact of King’s research on education, academic reputation and alumni impact.
The Environmental Education score increased from 91.4 to 94.4. It combines metrics that measure the availability and academic reputation of sustainability courses at King’s, and alumni impact for environmental sustainability in the public and third sector.
These achievements reflect King’s commitment to embed sustainability in its education offering, working across all faculties to train and empower our students to address the climate crisis and shape action. The University also offers a range of co-curricular options to develop sustainability knowledge and skills, such as the KEATS Sustainability & Climate module, Sustainability Seminar Series and Carbon Literacy Training.
I am delighted to see King’s rank so highly in the QS World University Sustainability Rankings 2026. This reflects the great progress that has been made by our staff, students and partners to embed sustainability into everything we do – from transformative interdisciplinary research and innovative teaching to improving our operations. This comes at a pivotal moment, as we recommit to our decarbonisation and wider sustainability ambitions and set a clear direction for the years ahead.
Professor Rachel Mills CBE, Senior Vice President (Academic)
King's is currently developing a new Sustainability Strategy 2026-2030, which will set out how the University intends to address the climate and ecological crisis by embedding sustainability in our education, research and operations. Staff and students can provide feedback on the draft strategy (King’s log-in required) by 28 November 2025.
Photo by Rebecca Broadley, King’s in Spring: Sustainability Photo Competition 2025.
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