The Complete University Guide League Tables 2025

When deciding where you want to study abroad, university rankings can be one of your most trusted advisors. For courses in the UK, the Complete University Guide League Tables 2025 fulfil that role. These reliable and independent lists have been compiled by experts annually for the last 30 years, consistently giving students the insight they need to make the right choices for them. With the latest edition having just been released, we take a look at what they can tell you.

What are the Complete University Guide League Tables?

The Complete University Guide League Tables are a set of carefully compiled rankings of UK universities. They evaluate 154 different institutions across the country, assessing which are the best overall and for 74 different study subjects.

The tables are put together by a group of education experts with the help of verified data that covers many of the key components of each university. More information on this can be found later in this article.

What do the 2025 League Tables show?

The biggest names in British education continue to rank highest. The University of Cambridge maintains its position as the top university in the UK, while its famous counterpart Oxford remains in second place. In fact, the whole of this year's top four is the same as last year, with London’s LSE and Scotland’s St Andrews following the illustrious Oxbridge institutions. Imperial College London is the only new entrant into the top five, moving up one position.

Further down the list, several universities have made impressive climbs. Both the University of Suffolk and Goldsmiths have risen 22 places since last year, to 58th and 52nd respectively. Elsewhere, the University of Liverpool has jumped into the top 20, moving up six places to 18th.

Complete University Guide League Tables 2025 top 10

Here are the top 10 universities in the overall ranking:

Complete University Guide League Tables 2025 by subject

Often, the top-ranked universities for the course you want to study will not be the top-ranked overall. For that reason, it may well be worth exploring the many subject-specific Complete University Guide League Tables. To get you started, we've narrowed down the dozens that are drawn up into an overview of those for the most popular subjects with international students.

Medicine

While the medicine league table shares the same top two as the overall list, it better shows the geographical range of the UK's top universities. Only half of its top 10 are in England, with four based in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland. The Scottish universities perform particularly well: Edinburgh and Glasgow rise three places, while St Andrews goes up four to join them and Dundee.

Computer science

Similarly, the top two universities for computer science are the same as the top two overall. Across the top 10, though, there is considerable movement. St Andrews and Warwick surge into the top five with year-on-year rises of six and seven places respectively, while King's College London climbs four spots to reach 10th. Eight of the top 10 are members of the prestigious Russell Group, with St Andrews and Bath being the only two that are not.

Business and management studies

More movement can be seen in the top 10 universities for studying business, where first-placed Oxford is the only institution not to change position. Overall leaders Cambridge do not appear here, placing beneath lesser-ranked universities such as Exeter. Notably, the University of Edinburgh rises seven places to 8th, reflecting the Scottish capital's position as a major financial centre.

Mechanical engineering

The best universities for mechanical engineering in the UK have clearly built their reputation on strong foundations. Beyond a single swap of places for Imperial, Oxford, Edinburgh and Leeds, the top 10 remains the same as last year. The list shows that your options for studying engineering are geographically diverse. Eye-catching institutions include Yorkshire's Sheffield and Leeds, and the south coast's Southampton. You are never restricted to one location when looking at the UK as a study destination.

How are the tables compiled?

The Complete University Guide League Tables are compiled by higher education experts using reliable data on some of the most important aspects of each university's offering. These are:

• Entry standards
• Student satisfaction
• Research quality
• Research intensity (the proportion of teaching staff involved in research)
• Graduate prospects
• Student-staff ratio
• Academic services spend (how much money is spent on academic services, in proportion to the number of students)
• Facilities spend (how much money is spent on student and staff facilities, in proportion to the number of students)
• Continuation (the percentage of students who are expected to complete their course or transfer elsewhere)

The data used to measure the above is taken from three highly trusted and transparent sources: the National Student Survey, the Research Excellence Framework and the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Complex statistical models are used to convert this into scores that are then combined to make the final tables.

For greater insight into how the tables are devised, see this detailed explanation from the people behind them.

How can I use this information?

The Complete University Guide League Tables 2025 are a very in-depth resource, with a lot of information for you to absorb. It's therefore understandable if this can feel like a challenge. A good approach may be to take in the headline numbers before looking more closely. In doing this, you will have a good benchmark by which to compare the subject lists, which often feature a quite different combination of universities.

Of course, these are far from the only university rankings you can use to help make your study choices. For a different perspective, you can explore the QS and Times Higher Education lists. Unlike those of the Complete University Guide, these compare institutions around the world, making them especially useful if you have not yet decided to make the UK your destination.

However far you are into your research, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that your own preference is the most important. While rankings may place other universities ahead of one that has captured your attention, that should not detract from your feelings. There are lots of reasons why you might want to study at a particular institution, and its ranking should be only one of them.

In the long run, the valuable input of lists like the Complete University Guide League Tables will form just one part of your search for somewhere to study. If you're looking for courses at the moment, you can extend this with our search tool below. Simply enter a country, subject and study level, and you can explore universities that may suit you.