Keele University has seen a major jump in its position in the People & Planet Universities League Table, the national Sustainability League Table, rising 33 places to 15^th position in the table of over 150 universities, earning itself a First Class award for its environmental and ethical performance.

The People & Planet’s University League is the only comprehensive and independent league table of UK universities ranked by their environmental, sustainability and ethical performance.  It is compiled annually by the UK’s largest student campaigning network, People & Planet.  The League Table ranks UK Universities by 13 different sustainability criteria, including carbon reduction, student and staff engagement with sustainability, education for sustainability, sustainable food, workers’ rights and ethical investment.  The league table is seen as having had an important role in driving forward the sustainability agenda and policy in the Higher Education sector. 

Over half the criteria is scored using data collected and made public by the Higher Education Statistics Agency or other public verified data sources.  The rest is scored based on information made public by the university itself. Keele University's information can be found at Green Keele.

100% scores were obtained in the Environmental Policy section and strategy and implementation of Education for Sustainability.  Other significant improvements include a strong performance in energy and carbon reduction and developments in sustainable catering, which includes a recent Soil Association ‘Food For Life’ Award.

Keele University Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Prof Mark Ormerod, the university lead for sustainability, who chairs the University’s Environmental and Sustainability Steering Group, said: “We are delighted by our major rise in this league table.  Energy and sustainability is a key overarching institutional priority for Keele University.  Our very significantly improved position in the league table and awarding of a first class for our performance reflects our strong commitment and whole-institution approach to sustainability at Keele.

“It is challenging to ensure we are improving as an institution across all aspects of sustainability, as we have some really large projects, particularly around energy and reducing carbon emissions, which require a lot of focus.  However, this impressive result and our recent Sustainability Report demonstrate that, whilst there are inevitably still areas to improve, Keele has a strong commitment to educating our students on sustainability, to external engagement and partnership, to the campus and community, and to ensuring we improve the sustainability of our operations, in addition to being seen as leader for research and innovation in energy and sustainability”

The major rise in the League table follows Keele’s recent success at the national Green Gown Awards, where Keele won three awards, showing the strength and breadth of its sustainability activities.

For the full 2016 league table, see the People & Planet website