The best 20 unis in the UK right now, according to the new Complete University Guide

Well gang, the Complete University Guide for 2026 is finally out! It’s time to see how much your uni thrived or flopped, then get oddly competitive about it with your cousins.

Russell Group unis are supposed to be the most prestigious unis in the UK. But some of them aren’t scoring so well on the league tables anymore. Loads of Russell Group unis didn’t make it into the top 20 this year: The University of Leeds, Cardiff University, the University of Liverpool, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Nottingham, the University of Manchester, the University of Glasgow, Newcastle University and Queen Mary University of London. Quite a few UK unis outside of the Russell Group actually scored really well on the ranking. The University of St Andrews came fourth, and Loughborough University came seventh.

Unsurprisingly, Oxbridge came top. *Yawns*. The University of Cambridge is apparently the best uni in the UK, for the third year in a row. The uni also topped the league tables for 26 different uni subjects. I didn’t realise there even were 26 different uni subjects. The University of Oxford came second. What a shock. Although Cambridge scored super well overall, it actually came a mediocre 42nd for student satisfaction.

So, here are the 20 best unis in the UK right now, according to the new Complete University Guide for 2026. I’ve also added the unis overall scores, so you can see how badly your uni was beaten by its rivals x

20. University of Surrey – score of 762

19. King’s College London (KCL) – score of 763

18. University of Edinburgh – score of 764

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17. University of Southampton – score of 770

16. University of Sheffield – score of 774

15. University of Bristol – score of 778

14. University of Birmingham – score of 781

13. University College London (UCL) – score of 785

12. University of York – score of 788

11. University of Exeter – score of 794

10. Lancaster University – score of 806

9. University of Warwick – score of 832

Manifesting one of these Warwick students brought a mop x

8. University of Bath – score of 846

7. Loughborough University – score of 867

6. Imperial College London – score of 899

5. Durham University – score of 901

4. University of St Andrews – score of 923

3. London School of Economics and Political Science – score of 927

2. University of Oxford – score of 978

1. University of Cambridge – score of 1000

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Featured image of Jesus College, University of Cambridge by Jesusgreen/