Our reputation
Top 10 in the UK for Mechanical Engineering, Complete University Guide 2026
Globally renowned for our teaching and research, the School of Mechanical Engineering is one of the leading mechanical engineering schools in the UK. We have over 1,500 students from over 60 countries studying with us.
The quality of our research, and the funding it attracts, means we’re able to invest in world-class facilities and academic staff who are actively engaged in cutting-edge research, which means you will be taught by internationally renowned, inspirational academics working at the top of their fields.
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Academic excellence
- Top 10 in the UK for Mechanical Engineering, Complete University Guide 2026
- Top 10 in the UK for Manufacturing and Production Engineering, Complete University Guide 2026
- Top 100 in the world for Engineering and Technology, QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
- Top 100 in the world for Mechanical Engineering, ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024
- Awarded a prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education (2011) for ‘Innovative joint replacement and regenerative technologies to improve quality of life.'
- The University of Leeds is ranked 82nd in the world, QS World University Rankings 2025
- University of Leeds students are among the top 5 most targeted by top employers according to The Graduate Market 2024, High Fliers Research
- 92% of UK based graduates who responded from the School of Mechanical Engineering are in graduate level employment such as professional or managerial work within 15 months of graduation. (Graduating cohort 2020/21, Graduate Outcome Survey)
- We are a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities
- 97% of research activity submitted by the Faculty of Engineering is "world-leading" and "internationally excellent" by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
Gender equality
We have been commended for our strong and continued commitment to gender equality in the form of a prestigious Athena SWAN Silver award.
Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
Every six years, the UK’s four higher education funding bodies undertake an exercise to measure the quality of research undertaken by UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The funding bodies use the outcomes to inform the allocation of their research funding to HEIs. The Research Excellence Framework was the framework used in 2021.
Unit of assessment: Engineering
- 3.51 overall quality profile
- 97% of research activity submitted by the Faculty of Engineering is "world-leading" and "internationally excellent".
- 96% of research outputs submitted by the Faculty of Engineering are “world-leading” and “internationally excellent”
- 95% of our impact submission, covering our research contributions to society, academia and industry, are “world-leading” or “internationally excellent”
- 88% of the Engineering Environment submission rated as “world-leading”