The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings have been a resounding success.?
First published in 2019 as the world’s most comprehensive framework for evaluating and celebrating universities’ deep social and economic impact – through their contribution to all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – they have become a trusted resource for universities and governments worldwide.?
The first edition included a pioneering group of 450 universities from 76 countries, which stepped forward to submit data to evidence their impact and subject themselves to rigorous scrutiny for their work on sustainable development. The 2025 edition, the seventh annual iteration, included 2,540 universities from 130 countries.?
A survey of universities carried out by?THE?in May 2025 showed how much participants value the exercise: 84 per cent of respondents said the rankings are an important tool to showcase universities' contributions towards the UN SDGs. More than half said the Impact Rankings provided the best evidence of a university's commitment to sustainability, and 85 per cent said that being part of the Impact Rankings helps improve the reputation of the university – vital in attracting talent and partners of choice across the world.?
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The rankings have delivered way beyond our high initial expectations.?
But with this exceptional success come some searching questions.?
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How can such rapid growth be sustained while retaining the high standards of data integrity and evidence evaluation that are a hallmark of THE’s rankings? The latest edition of the Impact Rankings involved the evaluation of many tens of thousands of policy documents, as well as the analysis of 4 million research publications – a major, high-cost undertaking by THE’s expert data team, with powerful benefits to all participating universities and the sector at large but which is increasingly expensive to sustain.?
How can we handle the inherent instability of a ranking system that is growing so rapidly in depth and diversity each year, adding hundreds of new entrants annually, and where ranking scores can become highly compressed, with minimal data differentials between ranking positions?
How can we more formally and more effectively recognise, reward and celebrate the commitment made by participants that step up to take part in the process each year? How can we support them in demonstrating, marketing and amplifying their evidenced achievements and strengths??
How can we ensure that the unique, global data that we collect to create the rankings can be turned into the most effective, actionable strategic insights to support international benchmarking, improvement and institutional development – all to help promote a more sustainable future??
How can we improve the peer-to-peer sharing of best practices identified by the rankings, and support the development of an enriching community of institutions committed to sustainability impact??
How can we lock in the full benefits – and add value – for the many universities that have joined our sustainability community, and protect the valuable, world-changing project for the long term??
Our answer is to relaunch, rename and – in careful consultation with our community – reboot the Impact Rankings as a new ratings framework and membership community:
The Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings, and Sustainability Impact Network.?
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What does this mean??
Well, the first thing is to recognise that the Impact Rankings, in important ways, differ from other, more traditional ranking exercises. By changing their name and calling them “ratings”, we acknowledge that in the case of impact and sustainability, we are working with a self-selecting group of universities committed to sustainability – only those voluntarily stepping forward for evaluation – rather than an exhaustive list of all the world’s eligible higher education institutions. This is very different from our traditional World University Rankings, which have a much more comprehensive coverage of all the eligible global research universities.?
We will continue to deploy our tried and trusted Impact methodology to provide clear numerical scores for each university in each metric in each individual SDG they enter – and for their overall performance?– and indeed we’ll continue to present the ratings for now in the form of a ranked list on our website as we do currently. So, our gold standard framework remains intact. But recognition of this framework as a rating system and network allows us to work with the community to consider moving to presenting the congested numerical score data in banded groups, not individually ranked places, or based on percentiles or performance classifications.?
We need to carefully transition, in partnership with network members, from a ranking with significant instability and statistical uncertainty to a more appropriate and responsible system of evaluation, with certified outcomes.?
The move to a ratings framework and membership network also allows us to co-create the future of this project in true and open partnership with all participants – including evolving the exercise as the UN SDGs themselves evolve, after the 2030 deadline for the goals.?
Moving to a membership network also means that we will deliver exclusive content and analysis to our network community: special webinars, a regular monthly newsletter sharing rich data insights and best practices, and opportunities to connect with each other across events and activities. Harnessing the data – and the best practices it uncovers – to support peer-to-peer sharing and collaboration is vital to help deliver more successful universities and a more sustainable future for all.?
And to be clear: the changes mean that THE will require a modest subscription payment, annually renewed, to take part in the annual Sustainability Impact Ratings assessment process and to receive a published set of scores and ranked positions on our website each year.??
The annual subscription charge will cover access to THE’s data experts – who will be on hand to support universities’ data submissions and ensure successful inclusion in the published ratings – and it will support the vast effort to validate and evaluate all documentary evidence submitted for assessment. It will provide access to comparative data and score breakdowns for each SDG to support universities’ strategic benchmarking and provide the foundation for future development, with plans to deliver even more powerful data insights to our members as the assessment framework develops in partnership with the community.?
Network members will also receive official, licensed certification of their rating scores and ranked positions, and access to approved marketing assets to support the recognition and amplification of achievements and reputation-building activity.?
We know that the Impact Rankings have been of enormous value not only to universities in established higher education systems but those in the Global South that have been less visible in more traditional, research-based rankings, which can depend too much on institutional wealth and historical prestige. With that in mind, it is important that we maintain broad and diverse access to this vital mechanism for measuring and improving performance. So, entry to the new Sustainability Impact Ratings and membership of the network will be priced to protect the high importance placed on inclusivity in the exercise, with full fee waivers/price reductions for universities from the poorest countries.?
To recognise the leadership and “anchor” status of Impact Rankings participants?that already subscribe to THE’s SDG ID data dashboard, membership of the network and participation in the ratings will be included in the cost of the existing subscription.?
We are proud that the THE Impact Rankings provide universities worldwide with a comprehensive, independent and high-profile mechanism to articulate and demonstrate their progress to a wide range of stakeholders – not least prospective students?– in addressing the world’s grand challenges and the sustainability agenda. We are proud to have developed a trusted mechanism for institutions to benchmark against peers and to improve their performance, as well as to gain important international visibility for their valuable work and to enhance their reputation.?
Most importantly, we are proud to have developed a trusted system that recognises and supports the vital role that universities play, all over the world, in helping make the world a better place for all.?
The new Sustainability Impact Ratings – and network – locks in all those benefits and secures the stability and rigour of the exercise for the long term.?
Phil Baty is chief?global affairs officer at?Times Higher Education.
Sustainability Impact Ratings: FAQs?
Times Higher Education is transforming its successful Impact Rankings into the Sustainability Impact Ratings, underpinned by a new membership-based network – the Sustainability Impact Network?– to better support universities’ contributions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The change aims to maintain data integrity, improve stability, encourage collaboration and deliver richer insights. It introduces a modest subscription model, includes certification and benchmarking tools, and ensures inclusive access.?
Please refer to?a selection of?frequently asked questions below and contact impact@timeshighereducation.com for any further enquiries.?
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Q. Can I be included in the Sustainability Impact Ratings without being a member of the Sustainability Impact Network?
No. The paid subscription to the network unlocks the data submission support and the evaluation, assessment and benchmarking services required to be included in the ratings, so network membership is required for all universities that want to enter the ratings.?
Q.?How much does membership of the Sustainability Impact Network cost?
We have carefully considered a modest range of price points to ensure that the system is inclusive and simple, while supporting the long-term future of the ratings framework and network and maximising added value for members. Annual membership, including entry into the Sustainability Impact Ratings, will be tiered, based on World Bank country classifications, to ensure inclusivity and to allow the best-resourced universities to subsidise the least well-resourced institutions. Prices will be:?
High-income and upper middle-income nations: ?3,500 per year.?
Lower middle-income nations: ?1,000 per year.?
Low-income nations: Free of charge.?
These categories will be based on the latest World Bank classifications.?
Q. Is there a change in methodology from the Impact Rankings to the new Sustainability Impact Ratings?
No. While we intend to work with network members to review the methodology and evolve the ratings framework over time, and while we reserve the right to make methodological modifications based on feedback, in the short term we will continue to use the tried and trusted Impact Rankings methodology for the new ratings – using the same wide range of indicators to produce scores in the same way. Moving to describing this as a “rating” helps demonstrate its difference from traditional rankings and helps us evolve how we present the numerical score data over time.?
Q. Will the Sustainability Impact Ratings produce the same comprehensive range of outcomes as the past ranking?
Yes, the Sustainability Impact Ratings will continue to provide a published numerical score for each institution in each of the?SDG categories?entered – and an overall score will be provided in an overall published rating as with the Impact Rankings, based on a combination of universities’ strongest three SDGs and their submission to SDG17.?
Q. Participants in the Impact Rankings could choose how many individual SDG categories to submit to, from just a single SDG to all 17. Does the network fee cover submission into all 17 SDGS and entry into all 18 individual ratings (17 SDGs and overall)?
Yes. The flat network fee is for membership of a community with a range of benefits, including joining the Sustainability Impact Ratings, so the flat fee covers as many individual SDG submissions as each university desires.?
Q. My university only wants to submit to a very small number of SDGs, not all 17. Will the network fee be discounted to take into account the breadth of submission?
No. The flat membership fee is for membership of a community network, with a wide range of benefits including entry into the Sustainability Impact Ratings, so the flat fee covers as many individual ranking submissions as each university desires.
Q.?My university already subscribes to THE’s DataPoints product, SDG ID. Will we still have to pay for network membership and inclusion in the ratings?
No. All current subscribers to THE’s SDG ID data product will have their network membership, and participation in the ratings, included in the cost of their data subscription.??
Q.?If my institution choses to subscribe to THE’s DataPoints product, SDG ID, will the cost include membership of the network and entry into the next annual edition of the ratings?
Yes. All new subscribers to the SDG ID subscription data product will have their network membership and inclusion into the ratings included.?
Q.?My institution is a subscriber to THE’s DataPoints products – but not to the Impact and SDG ID modules. Will I still have to pay for the Sustainability Impact Network?
Yes. The network is for those committed to evidencing their commitment and contribution specifically to the sustainability agenda, through the Sustainability Impact Ratings, so a subscription fee is required to be part of this community.?
Q. Are THE’s data products included in the Sustainability Impact Network subscription fee (for example SDG ID and SDG AI)?
No. While network members will receive access to their full performance data, across all SDGs entered, and will receive some international benchmarking data, full access to the full data products are separate to the network benefits and can be purchased as add-ons to network membership. There will be cost efficiencies for network members that also subscribe to data products.?
Q. My university is from a developing nation and securing budget for membership is a challenge. How can you help?
To ensure that the Sustainability Impact Ratings remain inclusive for universities in all parts of the world, especially developing nations, THE is introducing a reduced membership fee for all universities in nations categorised by the World Bank as “lower middle-income” and will waive fees for all institutions in low-income nations.?
Q. What additional membership benefits are you considering for the future?
THE has a range of exciting plans for further membership benefits and enhancements, including additional, bespoke marketing assets and best practice awards. As we develop the network, we’ll be seeking views of members and consulting before agreeing and sharing additional plans.?
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