Best UK universities for psychology research

Ranked by the share of research rated world-leading (4★) in the REF 2021 — UoA 4: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

#UniversityWorld-leading (4★)Internationally excellent (3★)
1Imperial College London
Kensington and Chelsea
75.0%24.0%
2The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
71.0%23.0%
3University of Oxford
Oxford
69.0%26.0%
4University of Cambridge
Cambridge
69.0%24.0%
5Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham
67.0%28.0%
6UCL (University College London)
London
67.0%25.0%
7Birkbeck, University of London
London
63.0%27.0%
8University of York
York
62.0%29.0%
9King's College London, University of London
Westminster
62.0%28.0%
10Cardiff University
Cardiff
60.0%35.0%
11University of Liverpool
Liverpool
58.0%30.0%
12University of Glasgow
Glasgow
56.0%39.0%
13University of Birmingham
Birmingham
54.0%40.0%
14University of Manchester
Manchester
54.0%35.0%
15University of Exeter
Exeter
53.0%39.0%
16University of Sheffield
Sheffield
53.0%39.0%
17University of St Andrews
St Andrews
52.0%39.0%
18University of Southampton
Southampton
52.0%34.0%
19University of Sussex
Brighton
50.0%38.0%
20University of East Anglia UEA
Norwich
49.0%47.0%
21University of Bristol
Bristol
49.0%35.0%
22Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
48.0%29.0%
23University of Warwick
Coventry
47.0%42.0%
24University of Reading
Reading
46.0%41.0%
25University of Essex
Colchester
45.0%44.0%
26University of Leicester
Leicester
44.0%44.0%
27University of Leeds
Leeds
42.0%45.0%
28University of Kent
Canterbury
41.0%39.0%
29University of Nottingham
Nottingham
40.0%49.0%
30Durham University
Durham
39.0%44.0%
31Coventry University
Coventry
37.0%40.0%
32Lancaster University
Lancaster
36.0%51.0%
33University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
34.0%60.0%
34University of Stirling
Stirling
34.0%53.0%
35Bangor University
Bangor (Wales)
34.0%52.0%
36Ulster University
Coleraine
31.0%43.0%
37University of Portsmouth
Portsmouth
31.0%39.0%
38University of Hertfordshire
Hatfield
31.0%35.0%
39Oxford Brookes University
Oxford
30.0%36.0%
40University of Lincoln
Lincoln
27.0%50.0%
41University of Hull
Hull
26.0%58.0%
42University of Plymouth
Plymouth
26.0%58.0%
43Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham
26.0%53.0%
44University of Roehampton
Wandsworth
26.0%46.0%
45City (City St George's, University of London)
City of London
26.0%40.0%
46University of Dundee
Dundee
25.0%56.0%
47University of Bath
Bath
22.0%61.0%
48Keele University
Keele
22.0%53.0%
49Middlesex University
Barnet
22.0%33.0%
50Queen's University Belfast
Belfast
21.0%40.0%

Source: REF 2021 Overall profile — results2021.ref.ac.uk. 4★ research is "world-leading"; 3★ is "internationally excellent".