The universities and colleges in the United Kingdom are known for a very high education standard and therefore, often rank highly on the international rankings. Some of the best universities of the UK include Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, London School of Economics etc. However, since there are over hundred universities and colleges in the UK, it becomes important to know their ranking before making an investment in education.
Although, there is no official ranking for the UK, there are a few ranking systems, which can be used to compare universities on the national and international standards.
Top UK universities rank
The universities in UK are ranked by the Mayfield University Consultants, London who prepared the University League Table from 2007 onwards, which ranks all universities of the nation on the basis of 9 quality factors, such as entry standards, students’ satisfaction, research assessment, graduate prospects and overall scores. According to this list, the top ten universities of the UK in the year 2011 and 2012 are as follows:
| Rank 2011 | Institutions | Rank 2012 | Institutions |
| 1 | Oxford | 1 | Cambridge |
| 2 | Cambridge | 2 | Oxford |
| 3 | Warwick | 3 | Imperial College |
| 4 | St Andrews | 4 | London School of Economics |
| 5 | UCL | 5 | Durham |
| 6 | Lancaster | 6 | St Andrews |
| 7 | Imperial College | 7 | UCL |
| 8 | London School of Economics | 8 | Warwick |
| 9 | Loughborough | 9 | Lancaster |
| 9 | York | 10 | Bath |
World ranks of UK Universities
The Times Higher Education group has ranked universities worldwide 2011-2012. The ranks of the UK universities in the top 200 list are shown in the following table:
| World Rank | Institution |
| 4 | University of Oxford |
| 6 | University of Cambridge |
| 8 | Imperial College London |
| 17 | University College London |
| 36 | University of Edinburgh |
| 47 | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| 48 | University of Manchester |
| 66 | University of Bristol |
| 83 | Durham University |
| 85 | University of St Andrews |
| 99 | University of Sussex |
| 101 | University of Sheffield |
| 102 | University of Glasgow |
| 107 | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| 121 | University of York |
| 127 | Queen Mary, University of London |
| 127 | University of Southampton |
| 131 | Lancaster University |
| 133 | University of Leeds |
| 140 | University of Nottingham |
| 145 | University of East Anglia |
| 146 | Newcastle University |
| 148 | University of Birmingham |
| 149 | Birkbeck, University of London |
| 151 | University of Aberdeen |
| 156 | University of Exeter |
| 157 | University of Warwick |
| 164 | University of Reading |
| 181 | University of Liverpool |
| 197 | University of Leicester |
Most of these rankings vary with time and also for different disciplines. While it may be important to check an overall university ranking, for higher studies it is also critical to look into the specialization of different schools and departments which play an important role in shaping future career options.
Subject wise ranking
The subject wise ranks of UK universities in top 50 universities of the world are as follows:
| Year | Subject | Rank | Institutions |
| 2011-2012 | Engineering and Technology | 6 | University of Cambridge |
| 2011-2012 | Engineering and Technology | 7 | University of Oxford |
| 2011-2012 | Engineering and Technology | 10 | Imperial College London |
| 2011-2012 | Engineering and Technology | 26 | University of Manchester |
| 2011-2012 | Engineering and Technology | 27 | University College London |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 6 | University of Cambridge |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 7 | University of Oxford |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 8 | University College London |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 11 | University of Edinburgh |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 24 | University of St Andrews |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 34 | University of Manchester |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 39 | King’s College London |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 44 | Lancaster University |
| 2011-2012 | Arts and Humanities | 48 | University of Leeds |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 1 | University College London |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 3 | King’s College London |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 4 | University of Edinburgh |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 7 | University College London |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 22 | King’s College London |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 25 | University of Edinburgh |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health | 43 | University of Manchester |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical, Pre | 45 | University of Glasgow |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 3 | University of Cambridge |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 4 | University of Oxford |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 9 | Imperial College London |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 11 | University College London |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 23 | University of Edinburgh |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 37 | University of Sheffield |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 43 | University of Glasgow |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 45 | King’s College London |
| 2011-2012 | Life Sciences | 49 | University of Bristol |
| 2010-2011 | Physical Sciences | 8 | University of Cambridge |
| 2010-2011 | Physical Sciences | 10 | University of Oxford |
| 2010-2011 | Physical Sciences | 13 | Imperial College London |
| 2010-2011 | Physical Sciences | 27 | University of Edinburgh |
| 2010-2011 | Physical Sciences | 37 | University of Sussex |
| 2010-2011 | Physical Sciences | 40 | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 7 | University of Oxford |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 8 | University of Cambridge |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 13 | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 14 | University College London |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 31 | King’s College London |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 35 | University of York |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 39 | University of Edinburgh |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 49 | Durham University |
| 2010-2011 | Social Sciences | 50 | University of Bristol |
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