Want to know which are the best UK Universities to study at? Here are the rankings of the top UK Universities:
The ranking methodology is based on the following data sources:
- The National Student Survey and the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.
- The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) which provides data for entry standards, student-staff ratios, spending on academic services, facilities spending, good honours degrees, graduate prospects, completion and international student enrolments.
- Individual university reported data.
| Ranking | University | Entry Standards | Student Satisfaction | Research Quality | Graduate Prospects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cambridge | 100% | n/a | 83% | 87% |
| 2 | University of Oxford | 97% | n/a | 83% | 83% |
| 3 | University of St Andrews | 100% | 87% | 78% | 80% |
| 4 | London School of Economics and Political Sciences | 79% | 76% | 84% | 86% |
| 5 | Imperial College London | 89% | 80% | 84% | 90% |
| 6 | Loughborough University | 71% | 84% | 74% | 87% |
| 7 | Durham University | 90% | 80% | 78% | 85% |
| 8 | Lancaster University | 71% | 81% | 79% | 89% |
| 9 | University of Bath | 82% | 82% | 79% | 87% |
| 10 | UCL (University College London) | 82% | 79% | 80% | 84% |
| 11 | University of Warwick | 77% | 82% | 81% | 83% |
| 12 | University of Exeter | 77% | 81% | 77% | 86% |
| 13 | University of Birmingham | 75% | 80% | 77% | 85% |
| 14 | University of Bristol | 80% | 80% | 79% | 81% |
| 15 | University of Edinburgh | 88% | 77% | 79% | 77% |
| 16 | University of Leeds | 75% | 81% | 78% | 81% |
| 17 | University of Manchester | 79% | 80% | 79% | 80% |
| 18 | University of Southampton | 73% | 81% | 79% | 82% |
| 19 | University of Glasgow | 94% | 80% | 77% | 85% |
| 20 | University of Nottingham | 71% | 80% | 77% | 86% |
| 21 | King's College London, University of London | 81% | 78% | 81% | 85% |
| 22 | University of York | 72% | 83% | 79% | 82% |
| 23 | Newcastle University | 72% | 80% | 77% | 86% |
| 24 | Royal Holloway, University of London | 64% | 82% | 77% | 74% |
| 25 | University of East Anglia UEA | 65% | 81% | 78% | 77% |
| 26 | University of Aberdeen | 86% | 82% | 74% | 81% |
| 27 | Queen's University Belfast | 71% | 79% | 75% | 82% |
| 28 | University of Sheffield | 71% | 82% | 79% | 84% |
| 29 | Heriot-Watt University | 79% | 80% | 76% | 79% |
| 30 | Cardiff University | 72% | 80% | 82% | 82% |
| 31 | University of Dundee | 84% | 83% | 76% | 81% |
| 32 | Swansea University | 61% | 82% | 77% | 85% |
| 33 | University of Liverpool | 67% | 81% | 77% | 85% |
| 34 | University of Surrey | 70% | 80% | 74% | 81% |
| 35 | University of Strathclyde | 94% | 80% | 76% | 80% |
| 36 | Queen Mary University of London | 70% | 78% | 80% | 79% |
| 37 | SOAS University of London | 74% | 79% | 70% | 70% |
| 38 | University of Leicester | 63% | 80% | 73% | 75% |
| 39 | University of Reading | 60% | 78% | 76% | 76% |
| 40 | University of Sussex | 67% | 79% | 75% | 80% |
| 41 | University of Essex | 51% | 82% | 76% | 74% |
| 42 | Harper Adams University | 59% | 82% | 67% | 73% |
| 43 | Aston University, Birmingham | 60% | 80% | 76% | 79% |
| 44 | University for the Creative Arts | 63% | 83% | 68% | 73% |
| 45 | University of Stirling | 77% | 80% | 74% | 78% |
| 46 | Nottingham Trent University | 59% | 82% | 65% | 82% |
| 47 | University of Kent | 62% | 80% | 74% | 78% |
| 48 | Oxford Brookes University | 58% | 80% | 67% | 77% |
| 49 | Arts University Bournemouth | 69% | 83% | 58% | 80% |
| 50 | University of Lincoln | 57% | 81% | 63% | 82% |
| 51 | University of the Arts London | 62% | 78% | 78% | 72% |
| 52 | Northumbria University, Newcastle | 68% | 81% | 68% | 75% |
| 53 | University of Huddersfield | 60% | 81% | 66% | 80% |
| 54 | Coventry University | 58% | 82% | 67% | 81% |
| 55 | Manchester Metropolitan University | 62% | 81% | 69% | 71% |
| 56 | Keele University | 58% | 83% | 72% | 82% |
| 57 | City, University of London | 65% | 80% | 74% | 73% |
| 58 | Aberystwyth University | 58% | 86% | 71% | 78% |
| 59 | St George's, University of London | 73% | 77% | 75% | 94% |
| 60 | Ulster University | 61% | 83% | 73% | 71% |
| 61 | University of Portsmouth | 54% | 81% | 69% | 85% |
| 62 | Edge Hill University | 61% | 82% | 56% | 77% |
| 63 | Liverpool Hope University | 55% | 82% | 55% | 84% |
| 64 | University of Hull | 59% | 80% | 68% | 76% |
| 65 | Bristol, University of the West of England | 57% | 84% | 67% | 76% |
| 66 | Liverpool John Moores University | 68% | 81% | 70% | 75% |
| 67 | Sheffield Hallam University | 55% | 82% | 69% | 74% |
| 68 | Goldsmiths, University of London | 58% | 78% | 73% | 58% |
| 69 | University of Bradford | 60% | 78% | 74% | 83% |
| 70 | University of Central Lancashire | 59% | 81% | 63% | 77% |
| 71 | University of Plymouth | 62% | 82% | 68% | 74% |
| 72 | Robert Gordon University | 72% | 83% | 59% | 81% |
| 73 | Bangor University | 58% | 83% | 75% | 67% |
| 74 | University of Chichester | 57% | 83% | 63% | 65% |
| 75 | Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh | 69% | 81% | 66% | 73% |
| 76 | Staffordshire University | 55% | 82% | 55% | 81% |
| 77 | Falmouth University | 59% | 81% | 51% | 77% |
| 78 | Edinburgh Napier University | 69% | 79% | 63% | 73% |
| 79 | Norwich University of the Arts | 61% | 82% | 67% | 61% |
| 80 | University of West London | 55% | 84% | 48% | 74% |
| 81 | University of Roehampton | 48% | 80% | 71% | 72% |
| 82 | De Montfort University | 52% | 82% | 67% | 83% |
| 83 | University of Hertfordshire | 51% | 81% | 65% | 80% |
| 84 | Birmingham City University | 57% | 80% | 66% | 76% |
| 85 | Brunel University London | 57% | 78% | 67% | 71% |
| 86 | Bournemouth University | 55% | 79% | 68% | 68% |
| 87 | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 60% | 82% | 75% | 66% |
| 88 | Glasgow Caledonian University | 72% | 80% | 67% | 72% |
| 89 | London South Bank University | 51% | 82% | 63% | 88% |
| 90 | University of Greenwich | 58% | 81% | 58% | 70% |
| 91 | University of Wales Trinity Saint David | 65% | 83% | 60% | 66% |
| 92 | University of Salford | 60% | 80% | 63% | 73% |
| 93 | Bath Spa University | 52% | 78% | 63% | 67% |
| 94 | University of Chester | 55% | 82% | 52% | 70% |
| 95 | Teesside University, Middlesbrough | 55% | 82% | 64% | 81% |
| 96 | Abertay University | 68% | 84% | 54% | 73% |
| 97 | University of Gloucestershire | 54% | 81% | 59% | 73% |
| 98 | Middlesex University | 54% | 78% | 65% | 74% |
| 99 | University of Derby | 56% | 81% | 52% | 76% |
| 100 | Solent University (Southampton) | 58% | 82% | 41% | 70% |
| 101 | Kingston University | 55% | 81% | 68% | 64% |
| 102 | University of South Wales | 57% | 82% | 63% | 63% |
| 103 | York St John University | 49% | 82% | 51% | 73% |
| 104 | University of Worcester | 55% | 83% | 52% | 75% |
| 105 | University of Winchester | 52% | 81% | 58% | 64% |
| 106 | Bishop Grosseteste University | 51% | 80% | 49% | 73% |
| 107 | St Mary's University, Twickenham | 52% | 81% | 50% | 72% |
| 108 | University of Sunderland | 54% | 80% | 53% | 66% |
| 109 | University of Northampton | 49% | 79% | 52% | 68% |
| 110 | University of the West of Scotland | 60% | 81% | 59% | 80% |
| 111 | University of Westminster, London | 56% | 79% | 68% | 70% |
| 112 | University of Brighton | 55% | 80% | 71% | 67% |
| 113 | Anglia Ruskin University ARU | 52% | 82% | 59% | 68% |
| 114 | Royal Agricultural University | 57% | 82% | 35% | 63% |
| 115 | University of Buckingham | 57% | 82% | n/a | 82% |
| 116 | University of East London | 51% | 80% | 68% | 65% |
| 117 | University of Cumbria | 56% | 79% | 53% | 72% |
| 118 | London Metropolitan University | 44% | 80% | 61% | 69% |
| 119 | Leeds Beckett University | 50% | 81% | 54% | 63% |
| 120 | Newman University, Birmingham | 52% | 82% | 53% | 64% |
| 121 | University of Wolverhampton | 51% | 81% | 58% | 69% |
| 122 | Leeds Trinity University | 48% | 79% | 50% | 68% |
| 123 | University of Bedfordshire | 48% | 80% | 63% | 70% |
| 124 | Buckinghamshire New University | 49% | 81% | 55% | 68% |
| 125 | Canterbury Christ Church University | 50% | 80% | 60% | 64% |
| 126 | Glyndwr University, Wrexham | 47% | 80% | 54% | 63% |
| 127 | University of Bolton | 52% | 84% | 51% | 57% |
| 128 | Plymouth Marjon University | 53% | 85% | n/a | 64% |
| 129 | University of Suffolk | 48% | 80% | n/a | 64% |
| 130 | Ravensbourne University London | 52% | 76% | n/a | 69% |
Source: Complete University Guide
Frequently Asked Questions About The UK University League Table 2021
The rankings are based on the National Student Survey and the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) which provides data for entry standards, student-staff ratios, spending on academic services, facilities spending, good honours degrees, graduate prospects, completion and international student enrolments. Also included are individual university reported data.
The first step is to look for popular and high-ranking Universities in the UK that offer courses you are interested in. Here are some things to consider when applying: Location, employability and graduate prospects, fees, entry requirements, as well subject ranking.
You can refer to our course finder page, where you can discover UK universities which rank high for specific degrees or courses.
Depending on the subject and university of choice, you need to apply before the stipulated deadlines. Refer to our UCAS deadline article for more information and specific deadlines for the upcoming intakes.