St Andrews tops uni league tables, the first time ever a university has beaten Oxbridge

St Andrews is the number one university in the UK, topping the new The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022.

No other university has beaten Oxford or Cambridge in almost 30 years of the Good University Guide, or any other domestic UK university ranking according to The Times.

Last year, St Andrews ranked third overall in the UK – with Cambridge first and Oxford second.

Now, Oxford has come second and Cambridge third, followed by Imperial College London and LSE.

St Andrews scored the highest of all universities in student experience, scoring 84.2/100. Whilst this is a slight decline in satisfaction rates, scores at other unis have largely “fallen off a cliff” during the pandemic, which is what’s allowed for St Andrews’ impressive performance in this year’s league tables.

St Andrews also scored highest of all unis for teaching quality and entry standards.

Alastair McCall, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “St Andrews’ achievement in topping our institutional table should not be underestimated.

“It is no fluke. The university has been closing in on the Oxbridge duopoly for several years, buoyed by outstanding levels of student satisfaction which have peaked during the past year of pandemic disruption on campus. The lead St Andrews now has over other universities in this key area of university performance is remarkable.”

Professor Sally Mapstone, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews, said: “I am thrilled for our students, staff and alumni. They are the people who made this happen.

“As one community, we strive constantly for excellence, and have a strategy that hasn’t been afraid to believe St Andrews could challenge at the very top by combining the best teaching, world-leading research, and an unswerving commitment to student satisfaction and achievement.”

You can see The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 in full here.

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