The best UK uni to study each subject at in 2024

The best UK unis to study each subject at in 2024, according to The Guardian’s rankings

No, Oxbridge isn’t the answer for everything


It’s the time of year when sixth form students panic over which unis to apply to for their subject, and current uni students panic that they made all the wrong life choices. Here is a list of the best UK unis to study every subject at in 2024, so you can make plans for uni (or deeply regret them).

As part of The Guardian’s annual UK university guide, it has made league tables for every subject. The Guardian took several factors into consideration when compiling the league tables. It looked at how satisfied students said they were with the teaching, the ratio of staff to students, how much the uni spent per student on that course, and how many people drop out.

Not every subject is best studied at Oxbridge, or even at a Russell Group uni. The Guardian has decided that the University of St Andrews is the best place to study six different subjects.

More modern unis that used to be polytechnics might be better to do less academic, more pragmatic courses. Oxford Brookes is the best place to study children’s nursing. The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) is best for anatomy and physiology. The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) scored the highest for creative writing. The film production and photography league table was topped by Birmingham City University. Teeside University is the place to be if graphic design is your passion. Ulster University is the best to travel to if you want to study Hospitality, event management and tourism or Nutrition and food science. Glasgow Caledonian University is the best place to study social work. The University of Sunderland topped the league table for pharmacy and pharmacology.

Here are the UK unis at the top of the all the subject league tables in The Guardian’s new 2024 uni ranking:

Accounting and finance – London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Aerospace engineering – Imperial College London

Anatomy and physiology – University of the West of England (UWE Bristol)

Animal science and agriculture – University of Lincoln

Animation and game design – University of Dundee

Anthropology and archaeology – University of Cambridge

Architecture – University College London (UCL)

Biology – University of St Andrews

Biomedical science – University of Oxford

Business and management – University of St Andrews

Chemical engineering – University of Cambridge

Chemistry – University of St Andrews

Children’s nursing – Oxford Brookes University

Classics – University of St Andrews

St Andrews is the best uni to study Classics at. This picture is of the Classics department at Cambridge, though

If you can’t study Greek and Roman things in Greece and Rome, then St Andrews is apparently the place to do it (Credit: Victoria Chapman)

Computer science and information systems – University of Cambridge

Construction, surveying and planning – University of Sheffield

Creative writing – University of Central Lancashire

Criminology – University College London (UCL)

Dentistry – University of Plymouth

Drama and dance – The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA)

Earth and marine sciences – University of Oxford

Economics – University of Oxford

Education – University of Bristol

Electrical and electronic engineering – University of Leeds

Engineering – University of Cambridge

English – University of Oxford

Fashion and textiles – Loughborough University

Film production and photography – Birmingham City University

Fine art – University of Oxford

Forensic science – University of Lincoln

Geography – University of Oxford

Graphic design – Teesside University

Health professions – Swansea University

History – University of Oxford

Oxford is the best UK uni to study the subject history at

Oxford is apparently the best uni for medieval castle enthusiasts (Credit: Eleanor Green)

History of art – University of Glasgow

Hospitality, event management and tourism – Ulster University

Interior design – Northumbria University

Journalism – Leeds Trinity University

Languages and linguistics – University of St Andrews

Law – University of Cambridge

Marketing and public relations – City, University of London

Mathematics – University of Oxford

Mechanical engineering – Imperial College London

Media and film studies – University of St Andrews

Medicine – University of Aberdeen

Let's pretend this girl is in front of the medical school in Aberdeen

Let’s pretend this girl is in front of the medical school in Aberdeen
(Credit: Pebble Barling)

Mental health nursing – Coventry University

Midwifery – University of Southampton

Music – University of Surrey

Nursing – University of Edinburgh

Nutrition and food science – Ulster University

Paramedic science – Swansea University

Pharmacy and pharmacology – University of Sunderland

Philosophy – University of Oxford

Physics – University of Oxford

Physiotherapy – Robert Gordon University

Politics – University of Oxford

Product design – Bangor University

Psychology – University of Oxford

Social work – Glasgow Caledonian University

Sociology and social policy – King’s College London

Sports science – University of Bath

Theology – University of Cambridge

Veterinary science – University of Edinburgh

Veterinary zoology – University of Glasgow

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Feature image credit: Francesca Gunner