The final year of school is a time of big decisions, and is there a huger decision than choosing what you’re going to do with the rest of your life? If you’ve decided that uni is the right path for you, the Daily Mail has just released its huge ranking of 160 UK institutions to help you pick your destination, based on what you value the most.
If you want prestige, the Mail has collected data on the quality of teaching and research, if you want to make big bucks, it’s got info on which grads have the best chance of a high-skilled job and what kind of salaries they earn, and if you’re after a healthy work-life balance, it’s delved into the numbers around student experience and support.
Taking all of those factors into consideration, the paper has ranked all 160 unis from best to worst. Coming out on top overall was Imperial College London, for the second year in a row. According to the Daily Mail, this STEM uni does ranks number one in research quality, high-skilled jobs and graduate salaries but falls short when it comes to student experience (ranked 57th), student satisfaction (ranked 121st) and first-gen student intake (122nd). Find out more about Imperial’s triumph on Time Out here.
Of course, Oxford and Cambridge universities didn’t follow far behind, ranking second and third respectively. Then two more London institutions rounded out the top five – LSE and University College London.
RECOMMENDED: The UK’s best universities according to the 2025 Guardian University Guide and how London unis did in the Guardian’s list.
The top uni for student experience was Scotland’s University of St Andrews, which ranked 7th overall, while the best for student support was Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln, which placed 93rd overall.
Down the other end of the table, the Mail ranked University of the Highlands and Islands as the worst in the country – though it’s worth noting that this isn’t necessarily because it’s the country’s worst quality uni. UHI came bottom because the Mail says it has ‘no students on campus’ and so wasn’t able to be properly included in the ranking.
The UK’s ten best unis, according to the Daily Mail
- Imperial College, London
- University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- University College London
- University of Warwick
- University of St Andrews
- University of Strathclyde
- University of Bath
- = University of Dundee
- (10=) University of Sheffield
In an earlier version of this piece, Birkbeck and The Open University were erroneously included on the list of worst universities. This was wrong. Time Out had no basis for asserting this. We apologise unreservedly to Birkbeck, The Open University and their communities.
More higher education on Time Out
One ranking not enough? Here’s what the Academic Ranking of World Universities thinks are the best UK unis, this is what QS named the best universities in the country for 2025 and here’s what real students ranked the UK’s best unis for student satisfaction. Plus, these are the UK uni courses with the highest-paid graduates.
Did you see that this northern city is officially the UK’s ‘first-time buyer capital’?
Plus: Is Topshop coming back to UK high streets?
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.