The Guardian’s new UK uni ranking is here – and these Russell Group unis are really far down
Babe, wake up, a new uni ranking just dropped
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
=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
=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
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
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)
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