Kent Law School has placed 23rd out of 106 law schools in the UK in the Complete University Guide for 2023.
The publication is a trusted and influential resource long used by aspiring students. With this latest issue, KLS has risen 6 places since last year’s ranking – and solidifies its place as one of the highest ranked law schools outside the Russel Group, even ranking higher than some Russel Group institutions.
Kent Law School is highly ranked in the other UK league tables, ranked top 20 in both the Times and Guardian league tables. Kent Law School is currently ranked 15th in The Times Good University Guide 2022 and 15th in The Guardian University Guide 2022. The Law School also has an excellent global reputation for law – ranked 58th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022.
The new ranking comes as Kent Law School was also ranked second in the UK for Research Quality, by Times Higher Education. The latter’s assessment is based on results announced by the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers (HEPs).
Professor Toni Williams, Director of the division for the study of Law, Society and Social Justice, said “KLS is a pioneering law school that has led critical research and education in law for over 50 years. I am delighted that the School’s research has received this recognition from experts in our field. To stand second in the UK for the quality of the School’s research, its impact and its national and international significance is an exceptional achievement. I want to say huge thanks and congratulate all who contributed to it — the staff whose outstanding research was assessed, the professional services and academic staff whose work supported that research and enabled it to happen and the KLS staff and students of the past 55 years whose critical engagement with legal institutions and ideas created and nurtured this great law school. I am immensely grateful everyone who contributed to the School’s success and to the University that has provided the conditions for KLS to thrive.”
Professor Erika Rackley, Deputy Head of School, added “I’m delighted to see the excellence of Kent Law School colleagues’ distinctive critical and impactful research being recognised by the REF results. Kent Law School colleagues’ research is shaping disciplinary and interdisciplinary academic agendas as well as having a demonstrable impact on legal and policy agendas in the context of safe housing, family justice, and reproductive autonomy.”
KLS is widely recognised as a world leader in critical and interdisciplinary scholarship including socio-legal studies, law and humanities, critical legal studies and feminist theory. Find out more on our School webpages.