UK University Ranking 2025

University rankings are very useful initial reference when it comes to selecting the right university! Below we’ve made available the university rankings of over 50 subjects, together with options of pathway programmes, entry requirements and median graduate salary data for download, to help prospective students kick start their research.

Type Postgraduate, Undergraduate & Pathway Programmes

Target F.5 or Above

Click to see our university network: Students can apply to over 125 universities and specialist institutions in our university network.

Why is the Good University Guide published by the Times a better university ranking?

The Good University Guide published by the Times takes into account of a wide range of criteria (such as teaching quality, research quality, entry standard, graduate prospects, etc) to evaluate the quality of education in an university. The Guide’s more holistic approach is believed to be able to reflect standards in both teaching and learning, as well as academic researches, which is why we have always recommended the Good University Guide as the quantitative reference when students and parents choose the right university.

Teaching Quality &
Student Experience
17%

Research
Quality
17%

Graduate
Prospects
17%

Entry Standards
(UCAS Points)
11%

First & 2:1s
Ratio
11%

Continuation
Rate
11%

Student-Staff
Ratio
11%

People
& Planet
6%

What’s particularly noteworthy in the 2025 university rankings?

For the first time ever, London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) has climbed to the top spot of the UK university ranking, while University of St Andrews comes the second – together they pushed Oxford and Cambridge to the third and fourth place!
But why? This has a lot to do with the increased weighting of Graduate Prospects – a change rightly made to reflect the increased emphasis on employability! In the 2025 university rankings, Graduate Prospects and Research Quality carry the heaviest weighting among other criteria.
In terms of subject choices, STEM subjects continue to enjoy an unstoppable popularity. Applications to Mathematics and Computer Science have gone up, while those to Arts & Humanities, Medicine and Nursing have gone down.
As for Graduate Prospects, the overall Median Graduate Salary across all subjects is at £28,000. As more and more Hong Kong students are planning to stay in the UK for good after graduate, we’re introducing more information about graduate salary in our university ranking tables, to help students learn more about the labour market of the UK.
Finally, here are the top 10 subjects with the highest Median Graduate Salary:
- Dentistry
- Medicine
- Pharmacology & Pharmacy
- Veterinary Medicine
- Chemical Engineering
- Economics
- Electrical & Electronic Engineering
- General Engineering
- Materials Technology
- Social Work
However, do remember that some professional disciplines (such as Architecture and Law) require postgraduate and further professional training before students can enjoy a more significant improvement in salary. The Median Graduate Salary measure (which is based on salaries 15 months after graduation) wouldn’t reflect the full picture of Graduate Prospects for these disciplines.

Overall UK University Ranking (2025)

2025 University Ranking	2024 University Ranking	UK University	Graduate Prospects	Research Quality
1▲	4	London School of Economics and Political Science	92.5%	68%
2▼	1	University of St Andrews	87.6%	53.8%
3▼	2	University of Oxford	90.4%	67%
4▼	3	University of Cambridge	90.4%	69.7%
5▲	7	Durham University	88.8%	55.9%
6▼	5	Imperial College London	95.9%	73.9%
7▼	6	University College London	87.5%	66.8%
8	8	University of Bath	88.7%	53%
9	9	University of Warwick	86.4%	60.9%
10	10	Loughborough University	86.3%	52.5%
11▲	16	University of Bristol	83.7%	66.2%
12▲	14	Lancaster University	82.1%	57.4%
13▼	11	University of Exeter	81.9%	57.5%
14▲	18	University of Sheffield	82.9%	59.1%
15▲	19	University of Aberdeen	82.2%	38.7%
16▼	12	University of Glasgow	82.3%	61.2%
17▼	13	University of Edinburgh	81.3%	61.5%
17▼	15	University of York	82.7%	62.8%
19▼	17	University of Southampton	84.3%	60.1%
20	20	University of Strathclyde	83%	53.1%
21	21	University of Surrey	83.7%	53.3%
22	22	University of Birmingham	84.2%	61.9%
23▲	29	University of Liverpool	82%	55.6%
24▲	27	King’s College London	85.1%	64.2%
24▲	34	University of Reading	80.4%	51.1%
26▲	31	Queen’s University, Belfast	87.1%	52%
27▲	34	University of Leicester	81%	53.6%
27▼	23	University of Manchester	80.8%	64.4%
29▼	24	University of Leeds	81%	57%
30▲	37	Newcastle University	82.4%	53.6%
30▲	32	University of Nottingham	83.3%	56.1%
32▼	25	Cardiff University	85.1%	56.7%
33▼	26	University of East Anglia	81%	58%
34▼	29	Royal Holloway, University of London	78.7%	53.6%
35▲	38	Aston University	82.6%	40.9%
36▼	33	University of Dundee	83%	51.1%
37▲	41	Swansea University	81%	47.5%
38▲	48	University of Sussex	73%	52.9%
39▲	46	Queen Mary University of London	78.6%	58.7%
40▲	52	University of Kent	72.1%	52.9%
40▲	42	University of the Arts London	60.5%	46%
42▲	43	Nottingham Trent University	71.5%	41.9%
43▲	49	Northumbria University	78.4%	40.6%
44▲	50	Glasgow Caledonian University	81.2%	38.5%
45▼	40	Ulster University	77.8%	47.8%
46▲	59	Manchester Metropolitan University	71.6%	43.7%
46▲	56	University of Essex	72.1%	50%
48▼	39	Aberystwyth University	72.4%	38.7%
49▲	66	City, University of London	78.9%	51.5%
50▲	61	Oxford Brookes University	77.8%	32.8%
51▲	64	Heriot-Watt University	82.8%	48.7%
52▼	45	St Mary’s University, Twickenham	79.8%	29.4%
53▼	36	Harper Adams University	74%	19.5%
54▲	58	Coventry University	74.4%	33.8%
55▲	65	University of Portsmouth	75.1%	39.1%
56▼	55	University of Lincoln	72.9%	38.4%
57▲	68	Keele University	78.6%	42%
57▼	47	University of West London	69.4%	28.7%
59▲	60	Edinburgh Napier University	80%	32.9%
60▲	67	University of Hull	75.8%	42.4%
61▲	62	Robert Gordon University	81.6%	20.8%
62▼	53	University of Chichester	74.8%	20.1%
63▼	53	University of Stirling	75.3%	43.8%
64▼	44	Bangor University	71.6%	51.3%
65▼	28	SOAS University of London	75.4%	51.9%
66▲	78	Cardiff Metropolitan University	74.4%	32%
66▲	70	Liverpool John Moores University	73.7%	32.8%
68▲	72	University of the West of England	76.2%	35.7%
69▲	79	St George’s, University of London	91.6%	48.8%
70	70	University of Plymouth	79.7%	38.6%
71▲	87	University of Brighton	73.3%	41.4%
72▲	91	University of Salford	76.6%	37.8%
73▼	51	Falmouth University	58.1%	48.8%
74▲	84	Abertay University	70.9%	24.6%
75▲	83	Plymouth Marjon University	75.7%	17.4%
76▼	74	Bath Spa University	64.8%	29.3%
77▲	82	University of Derby	73.4%	21%
78▲	80	Arts University Bournemouth	58.3%	23%
78▼	76	University of Huddersfield	75%	31.1%
80▲	96	Goldsmiths, University of London	67.1%	45.5%
81▼	75	Norwich University of the Arts	61.9%	38.8%
82▼	81	Bournemouth University	75.9%	30.7%
83▲	95	University of Hertfordshire	73.1%	39.2%
84▼	69	Edge Hill University	77.6%	26.3%
84▲	85	Sheffield Hallam University	75.5%	36%
86▲	89	Bishop Grosseteste University	76.6%	11.3%
87▼	73	University for the Creative Arts	56.8%	41.2%
88▲	101	Leeds Beckett University	70.8%	26.7%
89▲	100	University of Chester	76.3%	21.1%
90▲	125	Birmingham Newman University	73.9%	13.3%
90▲	112	University of Gloucestershire	76.4%	21%
92▼	89	Leeds Arts University	59.4%	6%
93▼	77	York St John University	69.1%	19.6%
94▼	88	Liverpool Hope University	65.2%	22.3%
94▲	97	University of South Wales	71.1%	27.5%
96▲	111	University of Central Lancashire	74.3%	30.4%
97▲	98	Kingston University	66.1%	34.6%
98▲	109	Solent University	66%	12.6%
99▲	103	University of Worcester	78.6%	15.3%
100▲	116	London South Bank University	75.4%	28.8%
101▼	93	Staffordshire University	73.7%	30%
102▲	105	University of Greenwich	70.6%	32.9%
103▼	85	University of Winchester	69%	22%
104▼	102	Teesside University	79.2%	28%
105▼	63	Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh	67%	27.3%
105▼	93	University of Sunderland	64.7%	30.5%
107▲	110	Birmingham City University	70.4%	29%
107▲	119	Brunel University London	69.4%	34%
109▲	114	Canterbury Christ Church University	75.1%	26.1%
110▲	117	University of Wales Trinity St David	59.6%	23.8%
111▼	108	University of Bradford	77.9%	29.9%
112▼	92	Leeds Trinity University	73%	15.1%
113▲	119	De Montfort University	69.3%	27.4%
114▼	56	University of Buckingham	76.4%	n/a%
115▲	122	Wrexham University	74.7%	13.3%
116▼	112	Hartpury University	60%	15.8%
117▲	121	Middlesex University	64.7%	30.4%
118▼	99	University of Roehampton	58.1%	45.9%
119▼	106	University of Bolton	74.8%	10.6%
120▲	123	University of Westminster	61.2%	39.7%
121▲	126	University of the West of Scotland	73.5%	19.2%
122▲	127	Buckinghamshire New University	69.3%	17.6%
123▼	118	University of Wolverhampton	73.4%	21.6%
124▼	106	University of Suffolk	72%	21.8%
125▲	128	University of Northampton	69.7%	13.8%
126▲	131	University of East London	63.6%	22.8%
127▼	124	London Metropolitan University	63.4%	29.2%
128▲	129	University of Cumbria	74.8%	13.6%
129▲	130	University of Bedfordshire	66.7%	30%
130▼	115	Anglia Ruskin University	69%	30.2%
131▼	104	Royal Agricultural University	68.7%	24.2%

Click to see our university network: Students can apply to over 125 universities and specialist institutions in our university network.

The Importance of Subject Ranking

When looking at the university ranking table, students should be aware that it is based on overall performance of the universities, and therefore may not necessarily reflects a university’s strength in a specific subject area. For many reasons, some universities that are leading in a specific subject area might be ranked relatively low in the overall ranking table.

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Physiotherapy	Pathway Programme
1	44	Glasgow Caledonian
2	19	Southampton
3	61	Robert Gordon	•
4	105	Queen Margaret
5	43	Northumbria
Median Graduate Salary: £28,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Radiography	Pathway Programme
1	44	Glasgow Caledonian
2	105	Queen Margaret
3	13	Exeter	•
4	29	Leeds
5	23	Liverpool	•
Median Graduate Salary: £28,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Psychology	Pathway Programme
1	1	LSE
2	2	St Andrews	•
3	4	Cambridge
4	3	Oxford
5	8	Bath	•
Median Graduate Salary: £25,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Law	Pathway Programme
1	7	UCL
2	4	Cambridge
3	16	Glasgow
4	1	LSE
5	5	Durham	•
Median Graduate Salary: £24,248

Click to Download Subject Ranking Table of other Subjects

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Accounting & Finance	Pathway Programme
1	1	LSE	•
2	9	Warwick
3	7	UCL
4	20	Strathclyde	•
5	49	City	•
Median Graduate Salary: £27,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Hospitality & Tourism	Pathway Programme
1	22	Birmingham
2	44	Glasgow Caledonian
3	66	Liverpool John Moores	•
4	21	Surrey	•
5	17	Edinburgh
Median Graduate Salary: £25,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Architecture	Pathway Programme
1	10	Loughborough	•
2	14	Sheffield	•
3	32	Cardiff	•
4	4	Cambridge
5	8	Bath
Median Graduate Salary: £24,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Art & Design	Pathway Programme
1	3	Oxford
2	7	UCL
3	10	Loughborough	•
4	80	Goldsmiths	•
5	30	Newcastle	•
Median Graduate Salary: £24,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Computer Science	Pathway Programme
1	3	Oxford
2	6	Imperial College
3	4	Cambridge
4	2	St Andrews	•
5	22	Birmingham	•
Median Graduate Salary: £30,000

Subject Ranking	Overall Ranking	Politics	Pathway Programme
1	2	St Andrews	•
2	3	Oxford
3	1	LSE	•
4	9	Warwick
5	20	Strathclyde	•
Median Graduate Salary: £28,000

Updated: 2024-10-15

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