Complete University Guide — 2026

The Complete University Guide (CUG) ranks all UK universities across a broad mix of teaching, research, entry standards and graduate outcomes, and is widely used by prospective students.

121 UK universities · data refreshed 21 May 2026

Showing 121 universities

Rank	University	Score
TEF G · #1	University of Cambridge	—
TEF G · #2	University of Oxford	—
TEF G · #3	London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London	—
TEF G · #4	University of St Andrews	—
TEF G · #5	Durham University	—
TEF G · #6	Imperial College London	—
TEF G · #7	Loughborough University	—
TEF G · #8	University of Bath	—
TEF G · #9	University of Warwick	—
TEF G · #10	Lancaster University	—
TEF S · #11	University of Exeter	—
TEF S · #12	University of York	—
TEF S · #13	UCL (University College London)	—
TEF S · #14	University of Birmingham	—
TEF S · #15	University of Bristol	—
TEF S · #16	University of Sheffield	—
TEF S · #17	University of Southampton	—
TEF S · #18	The University of Edinburgh	—
TEF S · #19	King's College London, University of London	—
TEF S · #19	University of Surrey	—
TEF S · #21	University of Leeds	—
TEF S · #22	Cardiff University	—
TEF S · #23	University of Liverpool	—
TEF S · #24	Queen's University Belfast	—
TEF S · #25	Heriot-Watt University	—
TEF S · #26	University of East Anglia UEA	—
TEF S · #26	University of Nottingham	—
TEF S · #28	University of Manchester	—
TEF S · #29	University of Essex	—
TEF S · #30	University of Aberdeen	—
TEF S · #31	Newcastle University	—
TEF S · #31	University of Glasgow	—
TEF S · #33	University of Leicester	—
TEF S · #33	University of the Arts London	—
TEF S · #35	Royal Holloway, University of London	—
TEF S · #36	University of Reading	—
TEF S · #37	Northumbria University, Newcastle	—
TEF S · #38	University of Strathclyde	—
TEF S · #39	University of Dundee	—
TEF S · #40	Swansea University	—
TEF S · #41	Queen Mary University of London	—
TEF S · #42	University of Portsmouth	—
TEF S · #43	University of Sussex	—
TEF S · #44	Aston University, Birmingham	—
TEF S · #45	Aberystwyth University	—
TEF S · #46	Nottingham Trent University	—
TEF S · #47	Harper Adams University	—
TEF S · #48	Oxford Brookes University	—
TEF S · #49	University of Kent	—
TEF S · #50	Manchester Metropolitan University	—

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How Complete University Guide is calculated

CUG combines entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, research intensity, academic services spend, facilities spend, graduate prospects (outcomes + on-track), student-staff ratio, and continuation.

Official methodology →