Top 100 UK universities

Find the best universities across the UK! Using real students reviews, we've created our university rankings for you to explore.

How we ranked the best universities in the UK

We use our student reviews data, pairing category ratings with written reviews to give a thorough picture of what students' views are. For each university we create a score that allows accurate weighting of scores.

UK university rankings for 2026

Scroll right to see all our ranking criteria

UNIVERSITY 2026 OVERALL
ACCOM
COURSES
SOCIAL
CAREERS
RECC
Middlesex UniView All Courses

1st

3
4.23 4.05 4.43 4.21 4.23 96%
Liverpool JMView All Courses

2nd

0
4.22 4.14 4.25 4.38 4.10 97%
Nottingham TrentView All Courses

3rd

-2
4.21 3.93 4.33 4.42 4.15 98%
Newcastle UniView All Courses

4th

1
4.16 4.14 4.20 4.48 3.85 100%
Edge Hill UniView All Courses

5th

1
4.16 4.30 4.27 4.02 4.07 98%
Uni of LiverpoolView All Courses

6th

-3
4.15 4.11 4.19 4.34 3.95 99%
Uni of DerbyView All Courses

7th

8
4.15 4.04 4.38 3.96 4.21 96%
Leeds Beckett UniView All Courses

8th

21
4.08 3.86 4.24 4.25 3.98 99%
The Uni of SalfordView All Courses

9th

10
4.05 4.00 4.19 4.08 3.94 98%
Uni of SheffieldView All Courses

10th

25
4.03 3.97 4.09 4.14 3.92 95%
Uni of LeedsView All Courses

11th

1
4.02 3.90 4.09 4.30 3.78 94%
Canterbury UniView All Courses

12th

57
4.01 3.84 4.22 3.87 4.11 100%
Uni of ChesterView All Courses

13th

-2
4.00 3.93 4.31 3.97 3.81 95%
Uni of NottinghamView All Courses

14th

-7
4.00 3.65 4.03 4.23 4.08 95%
Bangor UniView All Courses

15th

49
4.00 3.95 4.13 3.99 3.92 97%
Cardiff Met UniView All Courses

16th

23
3.99 3.80 4.18 4.16 3.83 100%
Uni of LincolnView All Courses

17th

10
3.99 4.10 4.03 4.04 3.78 89%
Manchester Met UniView All Courses

18th

-8
3.98 3.68 4.20 4.12 3.91 91%
Uni of ExeterView All Courses

19th

-5
3.98 3.96 4.03 4.03 3.90 95%
Uni of HuddersfieldView All Courses

20th

40
3.98 3.86 4.20 3.83 4.01 93%
Birmingham City UniView All Courses

21st

25
3.97 3.71 4.23 3.89 4.06 91%
Ulster UniView All Courses

22nd

14
3.96 3.83 4.10 4.01 3.90 94%
Bournemouth UniView All Courses

23rd

-15
3.95 3.77 4.06 4.13 3.86 93%
Uni of PortsmouthView All Courses

24th

17
3.95 3.82 4.12 3.95 3.88 100%
Uni of WestminsterView All Courses

25th

34
3.94 3.64 4.21 3.95 3.96 94%
Uni of LeicesterView All Courses

26th

-17
3.94 3.74 4.06 4.06 3.89 94%
Northumbria UniView All Courses

27th

-1
3.94 3.75 4.07 4.11 3.81 94%
Swansea UniView All Courses

28th

4
3.92 3.76 4.10 3.95 3.88 95%
Uni of SurreyView All Courses

29th

-12
3.91 3.97 3.98 3.78 3.92 97%
Uni of WarwickView All Courses

30th

21
3.90 3.80 4.16 3.77 3.86 95%
Uni of BirminghamView All Courses

31st

-18
3.90 3.86 3.89 3.99 3.85 96%
Queen Mary, UOLView All Courses

32nd

23
3.89 3.56 4.15 3.79 4.06 93%
Open UniView All Courses

33rd

-10
3.88 3.77 4.25 3.34 4.16 97%
Uni of CambridgeView All Courses

34th

8
3.88 3.91 3.89 3.75 3.96 91%
Cardiff UniView All Courses

35th

-17
3.87 3.32 3.98 4.28 3.90 98%
Uni of YorkView All Courses

36th

-12
3.86 3.81 3.98 3.96 3.71 98%
Uni of GlasgowView All Courses

37th

12
3.86 3.34 4.05 4.19 3.88 93%
Kingston UniView All Courses

38th

27
3.86 3.67 4.09 3.77 3.93 94%
Keele UniView All Courses

39th

-19
3.86 3.59 4.17 3.67 4.02 97%
Aston UniView All Courses

40th

-9
3.86 3.51 4.09 3.86 3.98 93%
Uni of Greater ManchesterView All Courses

41st

62
3.85 3.72 4.07 4.00 3.60 100%
De MontfortView All Courses

42nd

-17
3.85 3.79 3.97 3.83 3.79 86%
Uni of ReadingView All Courses

43rd

4
3.84 3.68 4.05 3.87 3.78 98%
UEAView All Courses

44th

-15
3.84 3.55 3.99 3.88 3.94 92%
Uni of GloucestershireView All Courses

45th

29
3.84 3.34 4.03 3.92 4.07 100%
Uni of BristolView All Courses

46th

10
3.84 3.46 3.98 4.23 3.67 94%
Uni of BathView All Courses

47th

19
3.83 3.64 3.98 3.63 4.06 94%
Edinburgh NapierView All Courses

48th

3
3.81 3.47 4.05 4.15 3.59 100%
Oxford BrookesView All Courses

49th

-17
3.81 3.52 4.04 3.96 3.74 95%
Uni of HullView All Courses

50th

-4
3.81 3.62 3.95 3.75 3.92 90%
UWE BristolView All Courses

51st

-14
3.80 3.50 3.98 3.96 3.78 92%
Sheffield Hallam UniView All Courses

52nd

-19
3.80 3.74 3.75 3.91 3.79 95%
Uni of ManchesterView All Courses

53rd

-26
3.80 3.13 3.95 4.16 3.95 92%
Uni of LancashireView All Courses

54th

25
3.80 3.63 4.01 3.69 3.85 95%
UCLView All Courses

55th

-11
3.79 3.50 4.05 3.73 3.90 90%
Durham UniView All Courses

56th

20
3.79 3.71 3.95 3.78 3.72 88%
Uni of SuffolkView All Courses

57th

57
3.79 3.56 3.80 4.12 3.67 91%
City St George's, UOLView All Courses

58th

26
3.78 3.58 3.97 3.77 3.82 100%
Loughborough UniView All Courses

59th

-44
3.77 3.71 3.91 3.66 3.81 97%
Uni of PlymouthView All Courses

60th

-17
3.77 3.67 3.90 3.85 3.66 96%
Uni of BrightonView All Courses

61st

-8
3.77 3.56 3.88 4.00 3.62 100%
Queen's UniView All Courses

62nd

0
3.76 3.84 3.75 3.75 3.68 92%
Uni of WorcesterView All Courses

63rd

-42
3.75 3.67 3.98 3.64 3.73 87%
Lancaster UniView All Courses

64th

3
3.75 3.77 3.92 3.65 3.65 100%
Uni of WinchesterView All Courses

65th

-23
3.75 3.49 4.09 3.34 4.07 96%
Aberystwyth UniView All Courses

66th

34
3.74 3.64 3.85 3.81 3.64 96%
USWView All Courses

67th

5
3.73 3.54 4.00 3.49 3.88 88%
Uni of EdinburghView All Courses

68th

3
3.72 3.53 3.88 3.99 3.50 89%
Falmouth UniView All Courses

69th

-33
3.72 3.39 3.97 3.86 3.66 100%
City St George's, UOLView All Courses

70th

-1
3.72 3.23 4.10 3.69 3.86 94%
Uni of WolverhamptonView All Courses

71st

-16
3.71 3.57 3.91 3.34 4.04 88%
Uni of OxfordView All Courses

72nd

29
3.71 3.54 3.97 3.51 3.84 93%
Royal HollowayView All Courses

73rd

-13
3.71 3.80 3.95 3.49 3.62 91%
Uni of DundeeView All Courses

74th

34
3.71 3.37 3.94 3.63 3.90 90%
Uni of SussexView All Courses

75th

-23
3.70 3.65 3.69 4.06 3.39 97%
Uni of SunderlandView All Courses

76th

68
3.67 3.44 4.06 3.50 3.68 93%
RavensbourneView All Courses

77th

-57
3.66 3.21 3.94 3.81 3.67 93%
Bucks New UniView All Courses

78th

44
3.65 3.47 3.92 3.74 3.49 93%
Coventry UniView All Courses

79th

2
3.65 3.58 3.87 3.46 3.69 79%
Uni of West ScotlandView All Courses

80th

-15
3.65 3.58 3.95 3.35 3.71 81%
Uni of KentView All Courses

81st

6
3.64 3.56 3.77 3.82 3.42 90%
Uni of GreenwichView All Courses

82nd

-21
3.63 3.40 3.92 3.48 3.72 93%
LSBUView All Courses

83rd

10
3.62 3.71 3.60 3.66 3.49 80%
Uni of SouthamptonView All Courses

84th

14
3.62 3.50 3.62 3.72 3.62 93%
Uni of East LondonView All Courses

85th

-2
3.61 3.57 3.72 3.47 3.69 85%
Liverpool Hope UniView All Courses

86th

3
3.61 3.43 3.71 3.66 3.64 94%
Anglia Ruskin UniView All Courses

87th

-48
3.60 3.41 3.96 3.28 3.77 86%
Uni of StrathclydeView All Courses

88th

-31
3.59 3.31 3.80 3.57 3.70 95%
Uni of EssexView All Courses

89th

15
3.58 3.42 3.85 3.47 3.56 96%
Glasgow CaledonianView All Courses

90th

-13
3.57 3.20 3.82 3.62 3.64 88%
Uni of BradfordView All Courses

91st

42
3.55 3.32 3.88 3.29 3.72 96%
Uni of HertfordshireView All Courses

92nd

38
3.55 3.35 3.91 3.22 3.71 88%
Bishop Grosseteste UniView All Courses

93rd

-23
3.54 3.72 3.49 3.39 3.54 83%
Uni for Creative ArtsView All Courses

94th

24
3.54 3.37 3.63 3.45 3.69 94%
Imperial CollegeView All Courses

95th

-17
3.53 3.55 3.45 3.42 3.71 83%
UWTSDView All Courses

96th

25
3.53 3.59 3.77 3.17 3.60 88%
Uni of BedfordshireView All Courses

97th

6
3.53 3.47 3.87 3.04 3.75 86%
King'sView All Courses

98th

36
3.52 3.17 3.76 3.55 3.59 96%
Abertay UniView All Courses

99th

-9
3.51 3.50 3.77 3.45 3.31 92%
Northeastern UniView All Courses

100th

26
3.50 2.88 3.82 3.60 3.71 100%

Our rankings only include universities that have reached our threshold of submitted student reviews. To find out more, please visit our rankings about page.

UK uni rankings FAQs

Which university in the UK is the hardest to get into?

Every university has a competitive entry requirements, while some may be more popular than others so entry processes can be more complex. Typically, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) are known for being hard to get into.

How can I choose a good university in the UK?

Decide which element of university is most important to you, such as location close to home, good career prospects or student social life. Use our rankings to narrow down your search, attend open days, seek the opinions of other students. For more guidance, read our advice article about finding the right course for you.

What is the top-ranked university in the UK?

For 2026, students have ranked Middlesex University as the top university!

Does ranking matter in UK universities?

Rankings are a great way for you to understand how good a university is and what they’re known for - whether it’s academic performance, employability skills or student satisfaction. With our rankings, you’ll get a sense of what universities students love and why.

Search rankings by top categories

Want to find the best university for societies? Looking to find a uni that prioritises employability! Check out our rankings split but categories that matter to you.

Accommodation

Accommodation

Which universities offer top class accomodation options?

Course quality

Course quality

See the universities who are known for their quality teaching!

Employability

Employability

Discover universities with the best track record for their students landing jobs.

Student life

Student life

Which universities are recommended for best student social life?

Explore regional university rankings

We break down our university rankings into regional areas so you can compare the best universities in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

England

England

See which universities in England rank highest.

Wales

Wales

See which Welsh universities are best for students.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

See which universities rank top in Northern Ireland.

Scotland

Scotland

See which universities rank highest in Scotland.

Learn More

151,805 verified reviews and ratings

Every year we receive and verify thousands of student reviews and ratings. Learn more about what makes a good student review.

Minimum character limit
All reviews come with a minimum character limit, so prospective students can gain more value.
Registered reviews
All reviews are registered on the Uni Compare platform to help verify their review with universities.
Start year
Students share the start date of their studies in case course names have changed over time.
All study types
We receive in-depth reviews from undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Ranking breakdowns
We ask students to breakdown their review into accommodation, course quality, and many more.
Rate out of five
Students rate four areas of their experience which helps create the universities overall rank.
Recommended universities
We ask all students if they would recommend their university, this helps determine success.
150,000+ data points
Our 2026 university rankings are created from 151,805 verified reviews and ratings.

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