Uni of Edinburgh falls behind Glasgow and Aberdeen in The Sunday Times’ university rankings

The University of Edinburgh has fallen to 17th place in The Sunday Times’ Good University Guide 2025.

Falling from 13th place last year, Edinburgh sits behind the University of Aberdeen (15th) and the University of Glasgow (16th) on the league table, making it the fourth best university in Scotland.

The Sunday Times guide offers a comprehensive overview of the best universities in the UK with the rankings being determined by factors such as “Student Experience”, “Teaching Quality” and the number of firsts and 2:1’s received.

This year’s league table has reshaped the university rankings, with LSE claiming the title of best UK university and knocking fellow Scottish university, St Andrews, off the top spot.

Despite beating its Scottish counterparts Aberdeen and Glasgow in areas such as “Research quality” (61.5) and the number of firsts and 2:1’s received (91.9), the University of Edinburgh has been let down by its “Teaching Quality” (75.4)  and “Student Experience” (72.5) scores.

What comes more as a surprise is that the University of Edinburgh scored higher or the same in most categories of the guide compared to its position in 2024, yet still manages to fall four places in the overall ranking. Edinburgh’s “Student Experience” score has gone up from 67 per cent in 2024 to 72.5 per cent in 2025 and its “Continuation Rate” remains consistent at 96.8 per cent.

Edinburgh’s drop in the Sunday Times’ ranking comes after a disappointing summer of rankings for the Russell Group university. The QS World University rankings saw Edinburgh drop to an all-time low of 27th and the Daily Mail’s ‘The Mail University Guide rankings for 2025’ saw Edinburgh debut at 30th place in the UK list.

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Reflecting on this year’s rankings Helen Davies, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “This year we have tweaked our methodology to keep up with contemporary concerns around climate change and careers and have added in a sustainability metric, teaming up with People & Planet, and boosted the weighting of graduate prospects.

“The higher education sector is facing unprecedented challenges from debates on free speech to financial stability, but it is important to remember the force for good that going to university can be. See how the universities compare subject by subject, a guide to campus life, and what scholarships and bursaries may be on offer online.”

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