It’s a big, expensive decision to go to university – and in the middle of a graduate jobs crisis, the stakes have never felt higher. This year’s guide will help you figure out how to make going to university worth it, from which courses offer the best AI-proof job prospects, to how you can cut costs by living at home. The Guardian rankings will help you figure out which universities give their students the best experience, rather than just showing you which are strongest in academic research, like most other league tables.
We rank universities through eight different scores, which form a total out of 100. These include what students say about their teaching and feedback in the annual National Student Survey. We also look at how big class sizes are through the student-to-staff ratio and how much universities spend on teaching each student.
Other areas covered are students’ A-level grades and whether their academic performance improves at university (the value-added score), and how likely they are to persevere with their course. There’s also data on how many students get graduate jobs 15 months after leaving university. For each metric, we use the most recent data available at the time of publication.
Any blank spaces mean there is data missing, so we focus on the other measures. In the guide, you will find our overall league table of UK universities as well as individual subject profiles and tables. We also have a special table showing you the universities and courses in England that recent graduates were least likely to regret.
The guide is packed with advice to help you make up your mind and start planning for university, from how to budget and which societies to join, to why more students are choosing to study psychology, and how to give your bedroom an Instagrammable glow-up. We also take a close look at why the University of Birmingham is rising up the league tables. The rankings change annually, and some universities may benefit from temporary measures such as funding boosts or changes to their student intake.
Don’t forget that universities languishing at the bottom of the overall table can be top for certain subjects – so check out our subject tables and profiles to build up a full picture. Remember that rankings are just one factor in your decision, among many others that are personal to you.
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