UK University Rankings Revealed: The Times Rankings

The University of St Andrews ousts Oxbridge from the top of the Good Universities Guide for the first time

Oxford and Cambridge have been beaten out of the UK university rankings for the first time, with St Andrews being named the best university in the UK. The Good University Guide, published online today, has placed the Scottish higher education institution at the top of its rankings, thanks in no small part to its consistently excellent student satisfaction.

Except for Oxbridge, no other UK university has previously been able to take over the number one spot. Cambridge has won all eight previous editions of the GUG competition (The Good University Guide), but this year it fell to third place, its lowest ranking to date. The University of St. Andrews has been in the top spot for years. But its student satisfaction peaked during the epidemic, and the university is now well ahead of its competitors in two GUG measures from the annual National Student Survey (NSS).

This year's NSS - conducted at the height of the epidemic - showed a sharp decline in student satisfaction with the quality of teaching and learning and the broader student experience at most institutions, which directly impacted this year's annual GUG rankings. While St Andrews itself saw a slight drop in satisfaction, other UK universities saw much larger drops in student satisfaction, putting them in an unprecedentedly strong position.

Just a week later, Cambridge professor Dame Mary Beard told the Times Education Committee that people should stop their obsession with Oxford and Cambridge and look at other British universities.

St Andrews, founded in 1413, topped the 2022 edition of the GUG rankings after rising in seven of the eight ranking indicators, including three at number one. In addition to the double victory in student satisfaction, St Andrews has the highest qualifications of any student enrolled during 2022, earning an average of 207 University and College Admissions Service (Ucas) key points per student, one more than Cambridge.

St Andrews also finished in the top ten for degree completion rates, the proportion of advanced degrees awarded, staffing levels and average spend per student on services and facilities.

Professor Sally Mapstone, who has been president of St Andrews since 2016, said, "I am proud of our students, staff, and alumni. They are the key to making the University successful. As a community, we continually strive for excellence and develop workable strategies, believing that St Andrews can challenge at the highest level through a combination of the best teaching, world-leading research, and a strong commitment to student satisfaction and achievement."

The new GUG rankings identify universities that have received strong student opposition on - and more commonly off-campus in the last 18 months. Bournemouth University lost the most points in the analysis of the 2021 NSS results compared to 2020.

Students at Cambridge and Oxford have been boycotting the NSS survey since 2016, and they have remained silent on how the two universities handled teaching and learning during the epidemic lockdown.GUG analysts used the last known ratings since 2016 and revised these data on an industry average based on the overall decline in student satisfaction in the years since.

University of the Year Awards

Since the rankings were first published in 1993, the annual GUG University of the Year Awards has recognized several other high-achieving universities in one of higher education's most turbulent years. Imperial College London became the 20th different University of the Year winner since the awards were first presented. St Andrews, Oxford, and Loughborough have each won the award twice.

Warwick University, which won this year's University of the Year award for teaching quality, was runner-up for the University of the Year. Ranked eighth overall - and consistently in the GUG Elite Top 10 - Warwick is now the Russell Group university with the highest level of student satisfaction with the quality of teaching and learnt he ng.

University of the Year.

Imperial College London

Runner-up.

University of Warwick

Shortlisted Universities.

Edge Hill University (Edge Hill)

Ulster University (Ulster)

University of York (York)

Modern University of the Year.

Edge Hill University

Scottish University of the Year

University of Glasgow

University of Wales of the Year.

Cardiff University

Sports University of the Year.

Loughborough University

University of the Year for Social Inclusion.

Teesside University

Teaching the Quality University of the Year.

University of Warwick

Student Experience at the University of the Year.

Imperial College London

University of the Year for Graduate Employment.

University of Surrey (USSR)

The student Retention University of the Year.

University of Sussex (Sussex)

University of the Year for Academic Excellence.

In addition to the institutional rankings, a new set of 67 subject tables were released today to identify centers of excellence within UK universities. From Aberdeen (where linguistics tops the list) to the University of Warwick (communication and media studies places), the rankings are based on student satisfaction with the quality of teaching and its wider university experience, the quality of research, entry criteria, and graduate prospects.

Cambridge is the most successful university at the subject level, accounting for 22 of the 67 subjects listed, followed by St Andrews (seven), Oxford (six) and Glasgow, Imperial College London, and Strathclyde (three each).

UK University Rankings.

Imperial College London was the best performer in the analysis of year-on-year changes in NSS results, one of only two universities whose student satisfaction scores rose at the height of the epidemic, and was named The Times' University of the Year, as well as the University of the Year for Student Experience "in recognition of outstanding initiatives in online teaching and learning and the role of the university's epidemiologists in guiding the national and governmental response to the spreading epidemic. Imperial College moved up one place to fourth in the GUG rankings but followed closely behind Cambridge University.

Full Times University Rankings.

1 University of St. Andrews 2 University of Oxford 3 University of Cambridge 4 Imperial College London 5 London School of Economics and Political Science 6 University of Durham 7 University College London 8 University of Warwick 9 University of Bath 10 Loughborough University 11 Lancaster University 12 University of Glasgow 13 University of Edinburgh 14 University of Bristol 15 University of Leeds 16 University of Southampton 17 University of Scleraide 18 King's College London 19 York University 20 University of Aberdeen 21 University of Exeter 22 University of Sheffield 23 University of Manchester 24 Queen's University Belfast 25 University of Birmingham 26 Royal Holloway, University of London 27 University of East Anglia 28 University of Nottingham 29 Harper Adams University 30= Heriot-Watt University 30= University of Liverpool 32 University of Surrey 33 SOAS University of London 34 University of Reading 35= Cardiff University 35=University of Dundee 37 University of Leicester 38 Aberystwyth University 39 Swansea University 40 Queen Mary, University of London 41 University of Stirling 42 University of Newcastle 43 University of Essex 44 University of Ulster 45 Aston University 46 University of Kent 47 University of Sussex 48 Keele University 49 University of Lincoln 50 University of Chichester 51 Coventry University 52 = University of the Arts London 52 = University of Hull 54 Oxford Brookes University 55 City, University of London 56 Norwich University of the Arts 57 Edinburgh Lombard University 58 = Edge Hill University 58 = Mahon University, Plymouth 60 Glasgow Caledonian University 61 Goldsmiths College, University of London 62 = Northumbria University 62 = Robert Gordon University 64 Bangor University 65 Roehampton University 66 66 Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh 67 St Mary's University, Twickenham 68 University of Chester 69 University of the Creative Arts 70 Nottingham Trent University 71 Manchester Metropolitan University 72 Sheffield Hallam University 73 University of the West of England 74 University of West London 75 University of Huddersfield 76 Staffordshire University 77 University of Sunderland 78 St George's, University of London 79= Bournemouth Arts 79= Cardiff Metropolitan University 81 Liverpool Hope University 82 Bishop Grosseteste University 83= Birmingham City University 83= Trinity Saint David's University of Wales 83= York St John's University 86 University of Worcester 87 University of Falmouth 88 University of Portsmouth 89= University of Bolton 89= University of Bradford 89= University of Buckingham 89= University of Greenwich 93 Liverpool John Moores University 94= University of Abertay 94= University of Derby 96= University of Gloucester 96= University of Hertfordshire 98 University of Salford 99 University of South Wales 100 City University of London 101= Kingston University 101= University of Plymouth Mahoning 103= Bath Spa University 103= Leeds University of the Arts 105 University of Suffolk 106= University of Bournemouth 106= University of Winchester University of Winchester 108=University of Central Lancashire 108=University of Northampton 110=University of the West of Scotland 110=University of Wrexham Glyndure 112=University of Hartpury 112=Leeds Beckett University 112=University of the Solent, Southampton 115 Anglia Ruskin University 116 Royal Agricultural University 117 University of Brighton 118 University of Teesside 119=University of Buckingham County New University 119=Canterbury Christ Church University 121 Brunel University, London 122 Newman University, Birmingham 123 Middlesex University 124 Trinity University, Leeds 125 University of Cumbria 126 De Montfort University 127 London South Bank University 128 University of Wolverhampton 129 University of Westminster 130 University of East London 131 Ravensbourne University, London 132 University of Bedfordshire