The ''Sunday Times'' University of the Year is a prestigious annual award given to a
British university
Universities in the United Kingdom have generally been instituted by royal charter, papal bull, Act of Parliament, or an instrument of government under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 or the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. De ...
or other
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
institution by ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
''. The current University of the Year for 2022 is
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
, while the University of the Year for 2019 was the
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
.
The award is given as part of the annual ''
Sunday Times University Guide'' since the second supplement's second edition in 1999. Though the guide contains a
league table
Standings or rankings are listings which compare sports teams or individuals, institutions, nations, companies, or other entities by ranking them in order of ability or achievement. A table or chart (such as a league table, a ladder or a leaderb ...
of UK universities compiled from various statistics, the award is not necessarily given to the university at the top (in fact, it only has been in 2007 and 2010). Instead, a university is chosen by a panel of experts based on all round academic excellence.
In addition to the winner, shortlisted universities are also named. A runners-up position was introduced in 2006.
From 2009 onwards, the ''University Guide'' took the year of its name from the following year (so the guide published in 2009 is known as 2010, the guide published in 2010 is known as 2011 etc.)
Although very similar in name, this award has no connection to the "University of the Year" award given by ''
Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
''.
List of winners
References
Educational awards in the United Kingdom
Awards established in 1999
1999 establishments in the United Kingdom
University of the Year
Universities in the United Kingdom
Annual events in the United Kingdom
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