The Guardian’s new UK uni ranking is here – and these Russell Group unis are really far down

The Guardian’s UK uni ranking is out – and they’ve put some Russell Group unis way lower down than you might think.

The University of Birmingham and the University of Leeds are only in 36th and 37th place. Cardiff University has dropped right down from 29th in the 2024 rankings to 46th in The Guardian’s new list for 2025. Ouch. Nottingham and Newcastle Unis are 62nd and 63rd, and Queen Mary University of London is only 74 out of 122 unis.

The University of Oxford has reclaimed the top spot of the UK uni ranking after The Guardian put St Andrews above it last year. The University of Cambridge is still 3rd. Imperial College London is only 5th on the list, even though the Daily Mail put it 1st on their ranking this year.

The Guardian put the Uni of Bedfordshire at the bottom of its UK uni ranking for the 7th year in a row. That’s got to hurt.

The Guardian took many factors into account when they scored the different unis, including the percentage of grads in grad-level jobs or further study within 15 months, how much the uni spends on each student, and how satisfied the students are with the teaching.

Here is the most up-to-date UK uni ranking by The Guardian:

122. University of Bedfordshire

121. University of  the West of Scotland

120. Brunel University London

119. University of Westminster

118. De Montfort University

117. University of Greenwich

116. University of Cumbria

115. University of Winchester

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At least Winchester cathedral looks nice, even if the uni has fallen 27 places in The Guardian’s rankings

=113. Middlesex University

=113. University of Northampton

112. University of Worcester

111. Wrexham University

110. Roehampton University

109. Goldsmiths, University of London

108. Bath Spa University

107. Canterbury Christ Church University

=105. Bournemouth University

=105. Leeds Trinity University

104. University of Central Lancashire

=102. Leeds Beckett University

=102. Birmingham City University

=100. Arts University Bournemouth

=100. University of Gloucestershire

99. University of Suffolk

98. Anglia Ruskin University

=96. York St John University

=96. Edinburgh Napier University

95. Robert Gordon University

94. University of Stirling

93. London Metropolitan University

92. Falmouth University

91. Queen Margaret University

90. SOAS University of London

89. University for the Creative Arts

=86. University of Brighton

=86. Liverpool Hope University

=86. Solent University

85. University of Wolverhampton

84. University of Plymouth

83. University of Salford

82. Cardiff Metropolitan University

81. University of Bradford

80. University of Wales Trinity Saint David

79. Abertay University

=75. Sheffield Hallam University

=75. University of Hertfordshire

=75. University of Hull

=75. St Mary’s University, Twickenham

74. Queen Mary University of London

73. Bangor University

72. Keele University

71. Birmingham Newman University

=68. University of Huddersfield

=68. Teesside University

=68. University of Sussex

=66. Heriot-Watt University

=66. Aberystwyth University

65. Buckinghamshire New University

64. University of the West of England (UWE Bristol)

63. Newcastle University

62. University of Nottingham

I personally think that Nottingham should get bonus points in the ranking because of how pretty the grounds around the campus are
(Credit: Pebble Barling)

=60. Kingston University

=60. University of Kent

59. London South Bank University

58. Staffordshire University

57. Manchester Metropolitan University

56. University of East London

=54. Liverpool John Moores University

=54. University of Derby

=52. Royal Holloway University

=52. University of Dundee

51. University of South Wales

50. University of Lincoln

49. Nottingham Trent University

=46. University of Chester

=46. Glasgow Caledonian University

=46. Cardiff University

45. University of East Anglia (UEA)

44. Edge Hill University

43. Queen’s University Belfast

42. Coventry University

41. University of Portsmouth

=38. Northumbria University

=38. City, University of London

=38. Oxford Brookes University

Oxford definitely has a large enough Urban Outfitters to serve two unis

37. University of Leeds

36. University of Birmingham

35. University of Reading

34. University of Leicester

33. University of  Sunderland

32. University of  Bolton

31.University of Manchester

30. University of  West London

29. Swansea University

28. King’s College London

27. University of Liverpool

26. University of Chichester

25. University of  York

24. Ulster University

23. University of Essex

22. University of Southampton

21. Aston University

20. University of Sheffield

19. University of Surrey

18. University of Exeter

I would rank Exeter first on a list of rah-est UK unis
(Credit: Francesca Gunner)

17. University of Strathclyde

16. University of Bristol

15. University of Edinburgh

14. University of Glasgow

13. University of the Arts London

12. University of Aberdeen

11. Lancaster University

10. Loughborough University

9. University College London (UCL)

8. University of Warwick

7. University of Bath

6. Durham University

5. Imperial College London

4. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Some Uni of Cambridge students and some people pretending to be Uni of Cambridge students for the purposes of this punting picture

3. University of Cambridge

2. University of St Andrews

1. University of Oxford

Related articles recommended by this author:

• These are the best UK unis right now according to the Daily Mail’s new uni rankings
• Every Russell Group uni as a meal deal: A very scientific analysis based on vibes
• Bottoms up! These are the Russell Group unis with the most pubs in 2024

Feature image credit: Harriet Hunter