Three unexpected unis are harder to get into than Oxbridge in 2025, based on entry standards

You could apply to a uni you actually want to go to. Or, you could spend hours pouring over statistics so you can apply to the best uni that you have a realistic prospect of getting into. Here’s a list of the trickiest unis to get into in 2025 – three of which are harder than Oxbridge. Don’t throw your hat into the ring unless you’re feeling lucky.

The Times and The Sunday Times University Guide includes “mean average tariff-point scores on entry for first-year, first-degree students aged under 21”. In English, that’s the average UCAS points of the freshers the uni let in. The higher the entry tariff, then the more accomplished the applicants are, and so the harder it will be for you to nab an offer. Get it?

Amazingly, the hardest UK unis to get into in 2025 aren’t just Oxbridge (based on entry standards, anyway). This might be because the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford put more emphasis on the interview and on their admissions tests, instead of on A-Level grades and music certificates and things like that.

The average entry tariff for Cambridge is 210. That’s approximately equivalent to two A*s and two As at A-Level. Freshers at another Russell Group uni have the same UCAS points, so in theory are just as accomplished as Cambridge students.

Cambridge colleges do look cool, if you can make it into one

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The average entry tariff of Oxford students is only 197. That’s about four As at A-Level, or three A*s and an A* EPQ. The freshers at two other UK unis have more UCAS points than this, and they’re not even Russell Group ones. Erm, maybe Oxford prefers students who spend all their time reading about their subject, instead of racking up UCAS points through dance exams and horse-riding certifications (yup, you can really UCAS points for those).

Here are the absolute hardest UK unis to get into in 2025, based on entry standards:

20. King’s College London (KCL) – 164 points

19. Queen Margaret University – 165 points

18. Glasgow Caledonian University – 166 points

17. University of Bristol – 168 points

16. University of Warwick – 170 points

This is the Warwick Arts Centre, and not a space station
(Credit: Steve Walton)

=14. University of Stirling – 171 points

=14. University of Bath – 171 points

=12. University College London (UCL) – 172 points

=12. Heriot-Watt University – 172 points

11. Durham University – 178 points

10. University of Aberdeen – 182 points

9. University of Dundee – 184 points

8. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 185 points

7. University of Edinburgh – 194 points

A University of Edinburgh student, dressed as an egg, for… reasons?

6. Imperial College London – 196 points

5. University of Oxford – 197 points

4. University of Strathclyde – 204 points

3. University of St Andrews – 208 points

=1. University of Glasgow – 210 points

=1. University of Cambridge – 210 points

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