Best universities in the UK 2025 - University Rankings

Discover the Times Higher Education UK University Rankings 2025 and explore which universities in the UK rank the highest.
This list of UK universities reveals the best universities and colleges in the UK, according to the trusted Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025.
Universities across the UK are scored in areas such as teaching, research and international outlook.
It uses a robust methodology, created by the in-house data team, that is relied upon by students, academics, policymakers, and industry leaders worldwide.

February 14 2025

Top universities in the UK

UK Rank 2025	WUR Rank 2025	University	Overall	Teaching	Research Environment	Research Quality	Industry	International Outlook
1	1	University of Oxford	98.5	96.8	100	98.8	99.6	97.3
2	5	University of Cambridge	97.4	95.9	99.9	97.6	88.4	97.1
3	9	Imperial College London	94.4	89.3	94.9	98.5	90.8	98.3
4	22	UCL	87.7	77.6	86.2	98.4	74.9	97.7
5	29	University of Edinburgh	82.5	72.2	77.1	95.7	72.2	96.6
6	36	King’s College London	78.8	60.1	74.3	97.2	76.2	97.2
7	50	London School of Economics and Political Science	75.9	60	72	94.7	45.1	94.2
8	53	University of Manchester	75.5	60.3	67.7	93.4	73.3	95.5
9	78	University of Bristol	70	49.8	56.9	96.8	71.1	92.6
10	87	University of Glasgow	67.8	47.5	51.4	96	72	96
11	93	University of Birmingham	67.1	46.7	50.5	95.1	75.3	95.1
12	98	University of Sheffield	66.3	48.7	49.1	90.1	94	91.8
13	106	University of Warwick	65.7	47.9	51.5	89	69.3	96.2
14	115	University of Southampton	65.3	47.2	47.7	91.2	72.7	96.7
15	123	University of Leeds	64.5	46.4	51	87	71.2	94.6
16	136	University of Nottingham	62.7	43.6	46.2	88.3	71.8	93.6
17	141	Queen Mary University of London	62.3	36.1	42.3	97.1	72.5	98
18	146	University of York	62.1	42.4	44.2	90.6	66.8	92.9
19	157	Newcastle University	61.4	37.1	42.9	93	82.9	90.8
20	160	University of Liverpool	61.1	40.1	40.7	92.1	65.7	95.5
21	168	Lancaster University	60.7	41.6	40.8	89.1	66.4	96.2
=22	172	Durham University	60.4	43.6	43.9	83.7	62.5	95.5
=22	172	University of Exeter	60.4	34.8	42.3	94.9	56	94.9
24	185	University of St Andrews	59.5	47.4	44	76.9	65.5	94.8
25	191	University of Leicester	59.2	34.9	34.9	96.1	69.7	95.5
=26	201–250	Cardiff University	55.8–58.6	37.6	38.9	88.3	70.2	91.9
=26	201–250	Queen’s University Belfast	55.8–58.6	35.2	37.8	89.8	67.6	98.3
=26	201–250	University of Aberdeen	55.8–58.6	34.8	36	81.9	79.1	97.4
=26	201–250	University of Reading	55.8–58.6	38.6	38.5	86.6	66.6	95.3
=26	201–250	University of Surrey	55.8–58.6	33.8	34.7	89	73.3	96.8
=26	201–250	University of Sussex	55.8–58.6	31.8	36	89.6	62.7	95.5
=32	251–300	University of Bath	53.7–55.7	37.5	35.5	81.3	66.6	94.5
=32	251–300	University of East Anglia	53.7–55.7	31.5	31.3	90.1	59.7	88.8
=34	301–350	Birkbeck, University of London	51.1–53.6	34.7	32.2	77.8	64.6	91.6
=34	301–350	Loughborough University	51.1–53.6	35.6	33.9	76.2	70.2	91.2
=34	301–350	St George’s, University of London	51.1–53.6	23	27	95.9	70.7	77.5
=34	301–350	Swansea University	51.1–53.6	27.6	30.5	89.1	58.4	89.8
=34	301–350	University of Dundee	51.1–53.6	26.2	32.2	84.6	79.9	92.2
=39	351–400	Aston University	49.4–51.0	20.4	26.5	86.7	64.2	96.2
=39	351–400	Brunel University of London	49.4–51.0	24.7	27.9	80.6	60.7	98.3
=39	351–400	City, University of London	49.4–51.0	27.8	30.3	76.8	58.5	95.1
=39	351–400	University of Essex	49.4–51.0	28.9	30.7	79.1	58.8	97.6
=39	351–400	University of Kent	49.4–51.0	30.6	28.6	77.8	62.9	93.7
=39	351–400	University of Strathclyde	49.4–51.0	33	35.2	69	79.5	92.3
=45	401–500	Bangor University	46.0–49.2	28.7	25.7	70.7	61.9	88.3
=45	401–500	Bournemouth University	46.0–49.2	24	20.8	87.8	39.7	88.8
=45	401–500	Heriot-Watt University	46.0–49.2	34.7	33.9	62.3	83	95.4
=45	401–500	Northumbria University	46.0–49.2	23.1	25	80	47.3	90.2
=45	401–500	Royal Holloway, University of London	46.0–49.2	31.1	29.3	72.8	65	94.2
=45	401–500	SOAS University of London	46.0–49.2	40.6	34.5	63.9	29.2	81.2
=45	401–500	University of Hull	46.0–49.2	23.6	24.2	77.4	55.5	88.6
=45	401–500	University of Portsmouth	46.0–49.2	23.8	20	86.6	50.3	95.4
=45	401–500	University of Stirling	46.0–49.2	23.3	25.6	79.8	42.5	91.8
=54	501–600	Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)	43.3–45.9	20.6	15	82.4	29.1	93.3
=54	501–600	Edinburgh Napier University	43.3–45.9	18.2	19	78.8	41.7	95.8
=54	501–600	Goldsmiths, University of London	43.3–45.9	26.5	23.7	76.8	40.9	82.1
=54	501–600	Keele University	43.3–45.9	22	22.8	72.7	63.6	83.1
=54	501–600	Middlesex University	43.3–45.9	24.3	18.2	78.3	42.3	93.6
=54	501–600	Royal Veterinary College	43.3–45.9	30.4	20	72.3	59.3	94.3
=54	501–600	University of Bradford	43.3–45.9	20.4	22	76.1	57.5	91.7
=54	501–600	University of Greenwich	43.3–45.9	18.2	18	83.6	37.4	97.7
=54	501–600	University of Huddersfield	43.3–45.9	26.6	24.7	69.8	44.2	89.6
=54	501–600	University of Plymouth	43.3–45.9	22.8	22	77	65	81.6
=64	601–800	Aberystwyth University	38.2–43.2	25.7	21.9	63.2	57	85.3
=64	601–800	Coventry University	38.2–43.2	21.6	15.3	68.2	39	94.9
=64	601–800	De Montfort University	38.2–43.2	17.7	15.7	73.3	44	93.7
=64	601–800	Liverpool John Moores University	38.2–43.2	19.3	19.5	79.7	45.4	81.4
=64	601–800	London Metropolitan University	38.2–43.2	16.5	13.5	72.7	30.3	91.5
=64	601–800	London South Bank University	38.2–43.2	18.6	12.8	74.3	48.6	94.9
=64	601–800	Manchester Metropolitan University	38.2–43.2	19.8	18.7	78.8	39	81.7
=64	601–800	Nottingham Trent University	38.2–43.2	19.9	13.9	83.3	37	90.4
=64	601–800	Oxford Brookes University	38.2–43.2	25.8	20	56.9	29.8	88.5
=64	601–800	SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College)	38.2–43.2	25.8	13.7	79	28.1	63.9
=64	601–800	Ulster University	38.2–43.2	21.7	22.4	63.2	52.7	84.9
=64	601–800	University of Brighton	38.2–43.2	19.2	19.4	66.4	64.1	86.8
=64	601–800	University of Derby	38.2–43.2	19.1	13.8	73	30.3	78.3
=64	601–800	University of Hertfordshire	38.2–43.2	18.6	13.2	72	41.7	92.7
=64	601–800	University of Lincoln	38.2–43.2	20.2	18.7	75.9	31.5	83.4
=64	601–800	University of the West of England	38.2–43.2	18.7	15.1	80.2	55	81.9
=64	601–800	University of the West of Scotland	38.2–43.2	24	16.1	69	66	89.6
=81	801–1000	Birmingham City University	34.5–38.1	18.3	12.1	66.6	23.3	84.9
=81	801–1000	Glasgow Caledonian University	34.5–38.1	18.5	13.7	63.9	47.4	79.4
=81	801–1000	Kingston University	34.5–38.1	20	15.5	53.1	48.4	91
=81	801–1000	Leeds Beckett University	34.5–38.1	17.8	15.5	66.1	47.8	71.8
=81	801–1000	Robert Gordon University	34.5–38.1	17.2	13.4	61.4	38	88.3
=81	801–1000	Sheffield Hallam University	34.5–38.1	18.9	14	62	33.7	72
=81	801–1000	Teesside University	34.5–38.1	19	14.2	68.8	28.2	86.9
=81	801–1000	The Open University	34.5–38.1	17	15.2	67.5	48.4	63.3
=81	801–1000	University of Central Lancashire	34.5–38.1	19.1	13.7	57.3	37.3	83.3
=81	801–1000	University of Roehampton	34.5–38.1	22.1	21.8	55.9	29.3	86.5
=81	801–1000	University of Salford	34.5–38.1	19.7	15.3	62.5	53.7	84.2
=81	801–1000	University of Westminster	34.5–38.1	18.7	16.8	58.5	46.8	88.1
=81	801–1000	University of Wolverhampton	34.5–38.1	19.2	14.9	60.2	48.1	80.3
=94	1001–1200	Cardiff Metropolitan University	30.7–34.4	18.7	13.7	45.8	28.2	84.4
=94	1001–1200	Edge Hill University	30.7–34.4	18.3	13.9	60.5	27.2	56.8
=94	1001–1200	University of Bedfordshire	30.7–34.4	16.6	14	56.4	30.1	84.7
=94	1001–1200	University of East London	30.7–34.4	20.9	15.4	46.4	30.7	87.3
=94	1001–1200	University of Gloucestershire	30.7–34.4	18.6	14.1	56.2	24.6	65.5
=94	1001–1200	University of West London	30.7–34.4	20.5	10	52.1	18.9	90.8
=100	1201–1500	Canterbury Christ Church University	25.2–30.6	24.4	13.4	45.7	18.9	64.3
=100	1201–1500	University of Northampton	25.2–30.6	18.1	11	42.5	18.4	80.4
=100	1201–1500	University of South Wales	25.2–30.6	18.1	12.1	38.7	49.8	78.6
=100	1201–1500	University of Staffordshire	25.2–30.6	18.4	11.5	48.9	24.3	67.4
=100	1201–1500	University of Sunderland	25.2–30.6	19.3	9.7	36.5	34.8	73
=100	1201–1500	University of Winchester	25.2–30.6	19.5	16	43.7	18.8	64.9
=100	1201–1500	University of Worcester	25.2–30.6	17.6	12	38	23.2	59.9
107	1501+	University of Chester	10.5–25.1	19.5	13.3	28.9	26.5	70

Key Insights from the 2025 THE UK University Rankings

The University of Oxford retains its position as the best university in the UK, holding the top spot for the ninth consecutive year.
The University of Cambridge, consistently ranks in the top five universities in the UK, excelling in research and innovation.
London’s universities continue to shine, with Imperial College London, UCL, and King’s College London securing high positions, reflecting their research influence and international reputation.
Three Scottish universities are present in the top 25 - the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow and the University of St Andrews
Cardiff University is the top-ranked Welsh university while Queen’s University Belfast is the best performing university in Northern Ireland

The table for the best universities in the UK was derived from data collected from the THE World University Rankings. The results are calculated using 18 performance indicators underlying five metrics: research environment, teaching (the learning environment), research quality, industry and international outlook. For more insights and a detailed breakdown of our ranking methodology, visit our methodology page. Use the UK university ranking table above to explore the right institution for you.