QS Sustainability
QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024
Discover which of the world’s universities are leading the way in social and environmental sustainability with the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024.
Using a methodology comprised of indicators designed to measure an institution’s ability to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges, the QS Sustainability Rankings 2024 features nearly 1,400 universities from around the world.
QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2023
Welcome to the QS Sustainability Rankings 2023 – our first rankings focused on social and environmental sustainability performance in higher education institutions.
Environmental impact
The environmental impact rankings reflect the outward impact a university is making when it comes to building a sustainable institution, engaging in relevant and impactful research and embedding sustainability in the curriculum.
The sustainable institutions indicator considers whether a university holds membership in officially-recognised climate action or sustainability groups, has a publicly available sustainability strategy and energy emissions report, has student societies focused on environmental sustainability, and a published commitment to becoming NetZero.
The sustainable education indicator looks at alumni outcomes and academic reputation within earth, marine and environmental sciences courses, and the availability of courses that embed climate science and/or sustainability within the curriculum. If a university has a research centre dedicated to environmental sustainability, further points are gained.
The sustainable research indicator assesses the university’s research activity around the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and whether the government is funding research and development in this area.
Social impact
How seriously do institutions take their role in creating a more equal, fair and just world? As well as environmental impact, the QS Sustainability Rankings also considers university impact around today’s biggest social issues.
The equality indicator assesses institutions on a variety of measures including the proportion of female students and faculty, the availability of public equality, diversity and inclusion policy, and the disability support available.
The knowledge exchange indicator measures universities on their commitment to knowledge transfer in collaboration with less-economically-supported institutions, and a university’s inclination to partner with other institutions and organisations.
Impact of education looks at the university’s research into quality education, alumni impact and academic reputation in relevant social subjects, and how free students and academics are in pursuing their research without censorship.
The employability and opportunities indicator gives each university an employer reputation score and an employment outcomes score, based on how prepared students are for successful careers. Universities are also assessed on research into work and economic growth, and peace, justice and strong institutions, as well as the rate of unemployment within the country they’re based in.
Quality of life is the final social impact indicator, used to understand an institution’s commitment to wellbeing within and outside of the university. We also look at research activity into quality of life, health options on campus and air quality in the region.
| ES | Environmental Sustainability | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ES.1 | Link to your institution’s sustainable procurement / purchasing policy. | http:// | |
| ES.2 | Link to your institution’s sustainable investment policy. | http:// | |
| ES.3 | Link to student led society whose purpose is to engage with sustainability. | http:// | |
| ES.4 | Does your university report its carbon emissions in line with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard or another commonly used standard? | Please provide evidence of the last conducted inventory | |
| http:// | |||
| ES.5 | Please provide the total Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions in Kilograms of equivalent carbon dioxide (kg CO2e) (see instructions). | Total Scope 1 & 2 emissions in CO2e | |
| If you also report on Scope 3 emissions, please list your estimate here, in CO2e | |||
| Please also provide a URL that supports the above figures | |||
| http:// | |||
| ES.6 | Please provide the same figure for a baseline year. See instructions. | Baseline year | |
| Total Scope 1 & 2 emissions | |||
| ES.7 | Does your university have a carbon reduction target covering Scope 1 & 2 emissions by at least 2050? If not, please leave the evidence field blank | Please provide evidence | |
| http:// | |||
| ES.8 | Please add the amount of energy generated in campus through renewable sources, in kWh, for the last reporting year. This would include energy consumed, stored or sold on. | Total energy from renewables | |
| ES.9 | Please submit your total campus building footprint. See instructions. | Total campus building footprint in square meters | |
| ES.10 | Please provide the year your institution has publicly committed to reaching net-zero. If you have not committed to this, please leave the evidence field blank. | Please provide evidence | |
| http:// | |||
| EE | Environmental Education | Total Number | |
| EE.1 | Do you offer courses that teach specifically on climate science and/or environmental sustainability? | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
| ✔ | We offer these courses and they are linked to officially recognised credits (e.g., European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System - ECTS, in Europe) | ||
| ✔ | They lead to the award of an officially recognised qualification that specifically refers to climate science and environmental sustainability (e.g., MSc in Climate Change: Science, Society and Solutions at the University of Manchester in the UK; BSc in Climate Science and Adaptation at the University of Newcastle, Australia) | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| ER | Environmental Research | Total Number | |
| ER.1 | Presence of a Research Centre with a specific focus on environmental sustainability | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
| ✔ | The Research Centre has dedicated FTE staff. | ||
| ✔ | This Research Centre contributes (through curriculum, teaching and supervision) to the teaching of undergraduate programmes and/or postgraduate programmes. | ||
| Please provide evidence or supporting statement (Maximum 100 words) |
| E | Equality | Total Number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| E.1 | Faculty Staff Male↔ | 1034 | |
| E.2 | Faculty Staff Female↔ | 1522 | |
| E.3 | Faculty Staff Other↔ | 0 | |
| E.4 | Students Female↔ | 11258 | |
| E.5 | Students Other↔ | 0 | |
| E.6 | Total Student Nationalities↔ | 73 | |
| E.7 | Number of members in your senior leadership team | 17 | |
| E.8 | Number of the above members of your senior leadership team who are male. | 12 | |
| E.9 | Does your institution have a current Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policy? | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
We have a current EDI policy or equivalent | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
Which of the following main protected characteristics are included in this policy? | |||
| Age | |||
Gender or gender reassignment | |||
| Disability | |||
| Race | |||
| Religion or belief | |||
| Sexual orientation | |||
Marriage and civil partnership | |||
Refugee and asylum seekers | |||
Pregnancy and maternity | |||
| E.10 | Do you offer support services for people with disabilities? | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
Existence of Disability Support Office | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
Campus is easily accessible by people with disabilities | |||
Please provide evidence (Maximum 50 words) | |||
Access schemes for people with disabilities such as mentoring or other targeted support | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
Our university offers on-campus accommodation | |||
We have a reasonable accommodation policy or strategy for people with disabilities, including adequate funding | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| KE | Knowledge Exchange | Total Number | |
| KE.1 | Do you offer, manage or deliver outreach projects (education, health, information services, reading, community engagement, tutorials) for the local community? | Please please provide evidence | |
| Maximum 200 words | |||
| HW | Health and Wellbeing | Total Number | |
| HW.1 | Do you provide on-campus or local health and wellbeing services? | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
Provision of healthy and affordable food choices for all on campus | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| Maximum 200 words | |||
Access to physical health-care services including information and education services | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
Access to sexual and reproductive health-care services including information and education services | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
Access to mental health support for both staff and students | |||
Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// |
| GG | Good Governance | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GG.1 | Do you have an equality, diversity and inclusion committee, office or officer (or the equivalent) tasked by the administration or governing body to advise on and implement policies, programmes and trainings related to diversity, equity, inclusion and human rights on campus? | ✔ | Existence of committee, office or officer |
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| ✔ | Existence of anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies | ||
| Please provide Policy URLs | |||
| http:// | |||
| GG.2 | Do you have an Anti-bribery and corruption policy? | ✔ | Existence of anti-bribery and corruption policy or equivalent |
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| ✔ | This policy has been reviewed in the last 3 years, i.e. on or after 2020 (tick if apply) | ||
| GG.3 | What is the proportion of papers published in open access journals at your institution? | Please provide this as a percentage of total papers published | |
| GG.4 | Does your organisation support and facilitate a holistic ethical organisational culture? | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
| ✔ | Our organisation develops clear ethical values (e.g., diversity, honesty, respect, fairness) and these are enshrined in a publicly available strategic document. | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| ✔ | Our university provides training based on those values at all levels of the organisation. | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| ✔ | There is an office for ethical compliance within our institution, with a designated official with oversight on ethical matters across the institution. | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| ✔ | Our organisation has an internal reporting system to assure the confidentiality of whistleblowers or a grievance procedure for staff concerning an employment matter | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| GG.5 | Does your university have a student union? | Please tick all answers that apply. | |
| ✔ | Our university has a recognised student union that represents both undergraduate and postgraduate students at university level | ||
| ✔ | This student union is connected/affiliated to a wider national student union body | ||
| ✔ | The student union elects its leadership, allowing students to vote. | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| GG.6 | Does your institution publish their financial reports on an annual basis? If applicable, please tick as appropriate: | ||
| ✔ | Income | ||
| ✔ | Expenditure | ||
| ✔ | Borrowing | ||
| ✔ | Surplus | ||
| Please provide evidence | |||
| http:// | |||
| GG.7 | Does your institution publicly share the decisions taken in your annual general meeting? If so, please share the link to these minutes. | http:// | |
| GG.8 | Does your university’s governing body have student representation? If so, please share the webpage link. If not, please leave blank. | http:// |