Cross are shown in front of it. The supporters – lions with the sterns of golden ships – are taken from the arms of the Cinque Ports.
The coat of arms is now formally used only for degree certificates, degree programmes and some merchandise, as a result of the university seeking a consistent identity branding.
== Academic profile ==
=== Research ===
Kent is a research-led university with 24 schools and 40 specialist research centres spanning the sciences, technology, medical studies, the social sciences, arts and humanities. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), which assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, Kent is ranked 38th by GPA and 32nd for research power (the grade point average score of a university, multiplied by the full-time equivalent number of researchers submitted). In the 2014 REF, the University of Kent was ranked 40th out of 128 participating institutions in a 'grade point average' league table in The Times Higher Education Supplement (falling from 31st in 2008), 30th in terms of 'Research Power' (rising from 40th in 2008), and 19th in terms of 'Research Intensity' (rising from 49th in 2008). The university had a total research income of £17.7 million in the 2021-22 academic year.
=== Reputation and rankings ===
For 2020, The Guardian newspaper ranked Kent 65th in the UK, while The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018 put Kent in 25th place, as did The Independent's Complete University Guide. QS placed Kent 46th in the UK and 366th in the world, while Times Higher Education placed it 44th in the UK and in the 301–350 group worldwide. In The Sunday Times 10-year (1998–2007) average ranking of British universities based on consistent league table performance, Kent was ranked 48th overall in the UK. In 2015, Kent ranked ahead of 10 Russell Group universities according to the ranking of The Complete University Guide. In research, both The Guardian and The Times newspapers ranked Kent 29th, with The Independent rating the university 28th for its overall …
