Nottingham university narrowly misses out on The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 win

Nottingham Trent University's Newton Building in Nottingham city centre
-Credit: (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)


One of Nottingham's universities has narrowly missed out on winning a coveted award in The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025. The newspaper has crowned the best universities across the UK, but the University of Nottingham (UoN) and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) are not among the winners this year.

While UoN was awarded Sports University of the Year for the third time last year, it failed to get any awards this time. It fell one position from last year to fifth place among the Midlands' institutions but rose two places to become the 30th-best university nationally. While NTU was once again ranked lower than its Russell Group neighbour, it rose one place to be ranked the seventh-best university in the Midlands and came runner-up to Northumbria University for Modern University of the Year.

The university was ranked 42nd nationally, which is also an improvement of one place compared to last year's 43rd ranking. The large university gained a gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework and is also the top-ranked modern university in the British Universities and Colleges Sports (Bucs) league, according to the Sunday Times.

Outside of Nottinghamshire, the University of Warwick was again recognised as the number one university in the Midlands and the overall University of the Year 2025 was London School of Economics and Political Science. 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.”