Why LSE is the Sunday Times University of the Year

You heard it here first. There will be no “safe spaces” at the London School of Economics (LSE): no trigger warnings on lectures; no books banned. Freedom of speech, no matter how controversial the topics up for debate, is at the top of Larry Kramer’s agenda in his first year as president and vice-chancellor of LSE, our University of the Year.
“A working group will consider how we deal with issues such as Islamophobia, antisemitism and transgender issues,” he says. All first-year undergraduates also have to take a compulsory interdisciplinary module called LSE100, which teaches students how to debate controversial issues.
Kramer, 66, who built his academic career in the US, including a spell as dean of Stanford Law School, is delighted — but not surprised — to be told that Britain’s social sciences powerhouse has for the first time outstripped both Oxford and Cambridge to take the top spot in The Sunday Times rankings of UK universities.
His focus on how to disagree and respect another’s opinion well is not just a defence of free speech but, he believes, a crucial task for this global university to prepare graduates for the real world.
“I say, if you come here expect to encounter ideas you hate, that bite, that go to your identity,” Kramer says. “If we are not doing that we are failing to prepare you for what will happen out there when you leave here. We will give you tools to help you engage.”
LSE, like many other universities in the past academic year, has dealt with student protests against the conflict in Gaza.
“We have had the same issues as everyone else,” Kramer says. “Our principle is clear: if the speech is lawful, people can say it and we will not punish them. That is hard for the people who do not like it but we have not gone down the path of regulating speech and we will not.”
• Read our full profile of LSE including how much it costs and student satisfaction rates
In the heart of London, equidistant from parliament and the City, the university has long had a stellar record at getting students into high-paying careers. This year it is No 2 (up from fifth last year) in our analysis of graduate prospects, with 92.5 per cent of leavers in highly skilled jobs or returning to study 15 months after finishing their degree. Chances to take part in networking with employers, become an intern or otherwise engage with the world of work are built into most courses.
Improving rates of student satisfaction, expressed in successive National Student Surveys (NSS), have been key to LSE taking the No 1 spot in our league table. Only five years ago the university was 112th for satisfaction with the wider undergraduate experience; it now ranks 40= based on our analysis of NSS.
“A few years ago LSE performed badly on surveys of that measure and we have made efforts to fix that, and the results have been spectacular,” Kramer says.
Crucially, he says, the students’ “discontent around grading and assessment” — that their work was not marked in a timely fashion and that there was not enough feedback, including during long-running national strikes — has been resolved. The government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023) awarded LSE a silver rating overall (up from bronze) underpinned by gold for student outcomes and silver for the student experience.
LSE has also boosted its health services since the pandemic, increasing the number of wellbeing advisers and counsellors and offering 24/7 online support. Student volunteers have been trained to help with advice on everything from academic stress and loneliness to getting over break-ups.
Refurbishments made to LSE’s campus, behind Aldwych in central London, which incorporates historic alleyways and newly pedestrianised areas, have also boosted the student experience. Each department has common rooms and study spaces in one building. The Norman Foster-designed LSE Library is one of the largest in the world devoted to the economic and social sciences and contains unique historical collections. The Marshall Building is the newest addition to the estate: it opened in 2022, adding a sports centre and café, academic departments, music practice rooms and study spaces on one of London’s oldest squares — the 17th-century Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The developments have been achieved without compromising on sustainability: LSE is ranked 25th in People & Planet’s 2023-24 league table of universities based on their environmental and ethical performance.
On the international stage, LSE was named top in Europe and second in the world for social sciences and management over nine consecutive years in the QS World University Rankings. In the latest subject list for 2024 it is sixth in the world.
The university’s outstanding contribution to the social sciences was evident in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), in which 93 per cent of its submission was judged world-leading or internationally excellent, the top two categories, placing it third in the country in our analysis. The best results were in economics; anthropology; social policy; health policy; and media and communications.
• Best universities in the UK: Sunday Times league table revealed
LSE’s list of alumni reads like a roll call of the great and the good. It includes no fewer than 18 Nobel prizewinners, among them Bertrand Russell and George Bernard Shaw, who each won the prize for literature, and Amartya Sen and Friedrich Hayek, who scooped prizes for economics. The business magnate George Soros, the philanthropist David Rockefeller and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also studied at the school. As did the cabinet ministers Rachel Reeves, the first female chancellor of the exchequer; Yvette Cooper, the home secretary; Ed Miliband, the energy secretary; and Anneliese Dodds, the minister for international development and women and equalities.
Kramer is proud to lead a university that is “genuinely global”: about half the undergraduates at LSE come from overseas and the total share of international students, including postgraduates, is 77 per cent (down from 85 per cent a few years ago).
Like many universities, LSE is cutting back on students from China, with many UK vice-chancellors now acknowledging that the number of applications has plateaued. Instead LSE is exploring new markets, recruiting from former British colonies such as South Africa as well as from South America. Kramer is not desperately worried. LSE’s financial position is, he says, “very robust, though I would be crazy not to be worried”, given that the UK’s funding model for universities depends on the very high fees of overseas students.
The LSE’s Fabian Society founders in 1895 dreamt of an institution to get at the “concrete facts of industrial life and the actual working of economic and political relations”. Kramer believes, LSE has an important role in helping to solve the biggest problems coming down the track — not only for Britain but around the globe.
“The world is in really bad shape — we are looking at democracy in retreat everywhere and governments not delivering what populations need,” Kramer says. “Fresh water supplies are collapsing, new technology is creating big headaches as well as huge benefits, and climate change. All around the LSE there is work being done on these huge issues. My goal is to make sure we do more of this crucial work and that it gets out there. We have ideas and research and they can help governments work out what could be done better.”
See the full league table and a guide to all of the university profiles detailing everything from their academic reputation to campus facilities, wellbeing support, and scholarships and bursaries at The Sunday Times Good University Guide
Students can access quality journalism from The Times and Sunday Times for just £9.99. Offer is for verified students and new customers only. Visit thetimes.com/student to subscribe and for full terms & conditions