(Updated) UK University League Table 2021 And Rankings

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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

What is the UK University League Table based on?

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.

How do I pick the best university for my needs?

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.

How can I find the best courses for the subject I wish to study?

You can refer to our course finder page, where you can discover UK universities which rank high for specific degrees or courses.

When should I start applying for a UK university?

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.