Daily Mail released a university league table and I’m kind of shocked at Cardiff’s ranking

The Daily Mail has published its latest university rankings in its The Mail University Guide, and Cardiff University has ranked lower than I’d have expected.

The league table placed Cardiff University at 34th, only four places above Swansea, so I guess we can’t chant about Swansea Uni students’ A Level results now.

The guide has ranked “every university in Britain” based on “recent performance data in areas such as teaching and research, as well as the views of the 346,000 final-year students”.

Plus, other factors such as graduate salaries 15 months after graduation were also considered along with incomes generated from research.

These results might come across surprising as some Russell Group universities have placed lower down the list than many would’ve imagined, including Cardiff University which placed below the likes of the University of Surrey. No offence to Surrey there but I’m a bit bitter, if you couldn’t tell.

If the Daily Mail had’ve considered crucial factors in what makes a university great like the magic of Christmas and the pure scenes of a Wednesday dance floor then we all know, Cardiff Uni would’ve been in the top spot.

But not all of the results are surprising, at least we placed above Swansea Uni, which ranked 38th and Bangor which sits at number 50.

On the other hand, the Complete University Guide’s 2025 University League Ranking Tables has positioned Cardiff in 24th with an overall score of 75 per cent, based on entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality and graduate prospects.

But we’ll let you be the judge of which ranking has placed Cardiff in the right position.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Coming to Cardiff Uni in September? Here are 10 essential things to know before you arrive

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