Depends on what you mean by tiers.
If you comparing it with all other institutions, each tier has dozens of universities, then Leeds is a top tier. But if each of your tier only contain two or three universities, then Leeds is not. You don't normally see it as a top 10.
Leeds is one of the better red bricks, but it's not the best of them (which, for me, goes to Bristol). It is also not as competitive as some later universities, such as Warwick. I consider it similar to Birmingham, Nottingham, Bath and so on. I see you mentioned Exeter. Exeter is pretty hard to classify. It is one of the poshest universities so it's naturally good for prospects, but I'm not sure where to put it for those who are not from a posh family.