"We are absolutely delighted with our performance in the RAE 2008 – it’s as good as we could have hoped for. We have significantly improved our overall quality and now rank 14th in the UK, (overall grade point average), compared to a quality position of 26th in 2001’s RAE. We are one of just two major civic universities to have recorded such a substantial improvement.

The results ensure we are well-placed to fulfil our ambition of joining the ranks of the world’s top 50 universities by 2015 through the distinctive integration of world-class research, scholarship and education.

This confirms our position as one of the UK's leading research universities. Our teaching programmes are underpinned by research - students have the opportunity to learn about the research process and experience how new knowledge is created.

A huge amount of work went into the RAE and all our staff should be congratulated. Given our overall size and the 12% increase in numbers of staff submitted it is a great outcome, and although we should be cautious about how this will translate into funding, we have a lot to be pleased about.

Our fine university has enormous strengths – breadth and diversity and a proud history and tradition. Today’s results give us renewed confidence of achieving our goal of a place among the world’s best universities."

Professor Michael Arthur Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds