The University of Leeds has been ranked the second most AI-ready university in the UK in a study by money.co.uk, published on 16 October 2026.
The study ranked 146 UK universities on their ability to develop AI talent and turn it into commercial innovation. Imperial College London came first. Leeds was placed second, ahead of the University of Bristol, the University of Birmingham and the University of Liverpool.
The release did not publish Leeds’ individual scores, so we cannot say which of the three measures drove its position.
How the ranking was built
money.co.uk said it counted the courses at each university that reference AI, machine learning, data science, robotics or automation in the course name, using UCAS data. It used HESA data for 2023/2024 to measure the share of graduates in computing, engineering and technology, and mathematical sciences who were in full-time employment. It also counted active spinouts in engineering, physical sciences and mathematics on HESA’s University Spin-out register, and businesses linked to each university with a .ai domain or AI in their name.
Each measure was weighted out of 25, except general spinouts, which were weighted out of 10, giving an index score out of 110.
Joe Phelan, business finance expert at money.co.uk, said: “The universities producing graduates with those skills, while also supporting spinouts and commercialisation, could play a huge role in determining what the UK’s next generation of small businesses looks like.”
The full top 10 was Imperial College London, Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Loughborough, Edinburgh, Surrey, Nottingham and Oxford.
The University of Leeds is also leading the new £6.5m Leeds Financial Innovation Exchange. More is in our tech section.