The chance to go to university is an extraordinary privilege. It is a time to find oneself, friends for life and even a job. It really can be life-changing. It is also a big decision to take. Can you afford it? Is it worth it? Where do you go, and what do you study? This is where our Good University Guide comes in.
We are here to help prospective students and their families. Our academic league table evaluates everything from satisfaction with teaching quality and the student experience through to degree continuation rates and graduate employment prospects, using, wherever possible, the latest data.
Behind the scenes there is an annual steering group with partners across the academic spectrum, with whom we debate issues in the sector and discuss our methodology. For The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 we have once again included a sustainability metric from People & Planet and we have boosted the weighting of graduate outcomes to keep up with the contemporary concerns of climate change and career prospects. We will consider the introduction of further data sources in the future.
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Three universities profiled in the guide do not feature in our league table. Birkbeck, University of London opts out of UK rankings because it has a focus on part-time higher education. Likewise, the Open University, which offers distance learning, cannot be fairly compared. And most recently, the University of the Highlands and Islands has withdrawn, owing to its unique structure over 70 sites and a large number of part-time staff.
Data analysis is by UoE Consulting Ltd: Sophie Bradford, Andrew Farquhar, Fiona Spence, Nicki Horseman.
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How it adds up: where the data comes from and how it is used
Data on entry standards, student-staff ratios, continuation rates, first-class and 2:1 degrees, and graduate prospects were collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) and supplied by Jisc. The data sources for these measures are returns made by the universities to Hesa. Institutions were provided with sets of their Hesa data, which form the basis of the table, before publication, and were offered the opportunity to check the figures.
The information regarding research quality was sourced from the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), a peer review exercise to evaluate the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, undertaken by the UK higher education funding bodies.
In more detail: how we calculated the institutional league table
This is what the statisticians at the universities are keen on, and possibly even the keenest of students too. Here you can see how the source data was used.
Following consultation with the steering group, The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 used 2021-22 data for entry standards, student-staff ratios, first-class and 2:1 degrees, and continuation rates. This was the latest available data to meet our deadlines. In 2024 Hesa published a new dataset called Data Futures. This was an unknown quantity and likely to be subject to appeals across the sector. In building the university league table, scores for student satisfaction (covering satisfaction with teaching quality and with the wider student experience), graduate prospects and research quality were weighted by 1.5; People & Planet scores were weighted by 0.5; and all other indicators were weighted by 1. The indicators in the academic ranking were combined using a Z-score transformation and the totals were transformed to a scale, with 1,000 as the top score. For entry standards, student-staff ratios, first-class and 2:1 degrees, and graduate prospects, the score was adjusted for subject mix.
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Student satisfaction
The student satisfaction measure is split into two components that give students’ views of the quality of their courses. After a consultation with the steering group, The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 used an average from the relaunched National Student Survey (NSS) 2023 and 2024 data. We will consider taking a three-year average of the NSS in the future.
i) Teaching quality: The NSS covers seven aspects of a course, which are grouped into themes. The teaching quality measure reflects the average scores of the teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, and academic support themes. Students answer on a scale from 1 (top) to 4 (bottom), and the score in the table is based on the percentage of positive responses (options 1 and 2).
ii) Student experience: The student experience measure is drawn from the average NSS scores in the organisation and management, learning resources, and student voice themes. Students answer on a scale from 1 (top) to 4 (bottom) and the score in the table is based on the percentage of positive responses (options 1 and 2).
Teaching quality is favoured over student experience and accounts for 67 per cent of the overall score for student satisfaction, with student experience making up the remaining 33 per cent.
Research quality
Overall quality of research based on the REF 2021. The output of REF 2021 gave each institution a profile in the following categories: 4* world-leading; 3* internationally excellent; 2* internationally recognised; 1* nationally recognised and unclassified. The funding bodies have directed more funds to the best research by applying weightings. For this year’s guide we used the weightings adopted by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Research England, published in 2020. A 4* output was weighted by a factor of 4, and 3* was weighted by a factor of 1. Outputs of 2* and 1* carry zero weight. The score was weighted to account for the number of staff in each unit of assessment. It is presented as a percentage of the maximum possible score of 3. To achieve the maximum score, all staff would need to be at 4* world-leading level.
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There are no scores in this category for the University of Buckingham, which, as a private university, takes part in world-leading research but chose not to submit to REF 2021. Missing REF scores receive a Z-score based on zero.
The next REF will conclude in 2028 and will assess research and impact between 2021 and 2027.
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Entry standards
Mean average tariff-point scores on entry for first-year, first-degree students aged under 21 based on A-levels and AS-levels, and Highers and Advanced Highers, and other equivalent qualifications (for example, the international baccalaureate). Tariff points refer to the score assigned by Ucas to grades from A-levels and equivalent qualifications that are used by universities to determine if their entry requirements have been met. Entrants with zero tariffs were excluded from the calculation. International A-level outcomes are not included in the Hesa-sourced tariff-point calculations. Two years of data were used to partially offset the inflation in tariffs caused by pandemic disruption. The pre-pandemic year 2019-20 was double-weighted to balance the teacher-assessed grades given for university entry in 2021-22.
Graduate prospects
Destinations of full-time, first-degree UK-domiciled leavers. The indicator is based on the activity of leavers 15 months after graduation and whether or not they entered high-skilled employment and/or graduate-level further study. The high-skilled employment marker is derived from the new Graduate Outcomes survey, based on 2021-22 graduates and published in 2024.
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Firsts and 2:1s
The number of students who graduated with a first-class or upper second-class degree as a proportion of the total number of graduates with classified degrees, sourced from Hesa 2021-22. Enhanced first degrees, such as a MEng gained after a four-year engineering course, were treated as equivalent to a first or 2:1.
Continuation rates
The percentage of UK-domiciled full-time undergraduate students still in higher education after one year, who either continue with the same provider or transfer to another UK institution as recorded in the year after entry. Two years of data were used in the calculation to balance the change in continuation rates caused by pandemic disruption. The pre-pandemic year 2018-19 was double-weighted to account for 2020-21 scores*.
*Falmouth University has no score owing to missing 2020-21 data.
Student-staff ratios
The number of students at each institution (as defined in the Hesa Session HE and FE Populations) as a full-time equivalent (FTE), divided by the number of FTE staff. It is based on academic staff, including teaching-only and teaching and research staff, but excluding research-only staff. For students on industrial placement for a full year, the FTE is adjusted to 20 per cent of the original, ie 0.2 for a full-time student. For students on an industrial placement for part of the year, the FTE is adjusted to 60 per cent of the original, ie 0.6 for a full-time student.
People & Planet
Universities are assessed against 14 ethical and environmental criteria that measure an institution’s sustainability. Approximately 45 per cent of marks come from universities’ performance on environmental indicators, such as carbon reduction, waste and recycling, water reduction, and use of renewable energy, which are taken from the Hesa 2021-22 Estates Management Record covering the period from August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023. The remaining marks, 55 per cent, are based on analysis of institutional policies on sustainable issues that affect all campus stakeholders, made public by universities online, including the food that is served on campus, a university’s investments, its curricula, its careers and recruitment activities, workers’ rights, and many others. peopleandplanet.org
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Subject tables
The 70 subject tables were based on four indicators: student satisfaction, research quality, entry standards and graduate prospects. The methodology for these is the same as that of the main league table, with the exception of graduate prospects, which uses the latest two years of data. Graduate prospects scores are published for medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine for information but they do not inform the rankings. Education includes a fifth indicator: the latest teaching training assessments by Ofsted. These were combined using a Z-score transformation with equal weighting for the indicators, and the totals were transformed to a scale, with 100 for the top score.
Subjects are compiled based on curated groups of the third tier of the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH3) and REF UoAs. Institutions are able to request custom groupings as necessary.
Our social inclusion index
These diversity indices provide an insight into the composition of the student body and the fairness of the university admissions process. The metrics used in the social inclusion rankings for England and Wales published for the sixth year are drawn from datasets published by Hesa and Ucas.
A separate Scottish social inclusion ranking is released for the fifth time, featuring eight measures of social diversity, and also using data sourced from Hesa and Ucas, together with a measure from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
In building the main social inclusion ranking, all nine measures in England and Wales, and eight for Scotland, were weighted and combined using a Z-score transformation. Institutional totals were transformed to a scale, with 1,000 for the top score. Indicators and their sources below are for England and Wales, and Scotland, except where stated.
State school admissions (non-grammar)
State school admissions data used in the Hesa-produced performance indicators on widening participation, published in 2022, are used as the basis for the calculations. The data was reanalysed, removing the 164 state grammar schools in England and the selective grammar school sector in Northern Ireland to produce a figure that represents admissions to universities from the state sector, net of those schools that are 100 per cent selective.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Ethnic minority students
The proportion of entrants to UK universities in 2020 drawn from black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic minority backgrounds.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Black awarding gap
The percentage-point difference between the proportion of firsts and 2:1s attained by white students and students from black backgrounds. A negative score indicates that black students are achieving fewer top-class grades. Where no data is shown, this is because the cohort of black students at a given institution is too small for a reliable calculation to be made.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Low participation areas (England and Wales only)
Calculated from the Polar4 measure, which classifies local areas into five groups, based on the proportion of 18-year-olds who enter higher education (HE). These groups range from Quintile 1 areas with the lowest young participation in HE (the most disadvantaged 20 per cent of areas) to Quintile 5 areas with the highest rates (the most advantaged 20 per cent of areas). This indicator records the proportion of students drawn from Quintile 1 admitted to each institution.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Deprived areas (Scotland only)
Calculated from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). The proportion of students admitted from postcodes classified as SIMD20, the most deprived 20 per cent of neighbourhoods.
Source: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation: Scottish-domiciled full-time first-degree entrants — 2021-22 data
Low participation areas dropout gap (England and Wales only)
Calculated from the Tundra (tracking under-representation by area) measure, which classifies local areas into five groups, tracking the proportion of 16-year-olds who enter higher education at 18 or 19. These groups range from Quintile 1 areas with the lowest young participation in HE (the most disadvantaged 20 per cent of areas) to Quintile 5 areas with the highest rates (the most advantaged 20 per cent of areas). This indicator records the percentage-point gap between the continuation rates from year 1 to year 2 of students drawn from Quintile 1 against those drawn from Quintiles 2-5. A negative score shows that more students from Quintile 1 are dropping out of their courses compared with those from Quintiles 2-5. Where no data is shown, this is because the cohort of Quintile 1 students at a given institution is too small for a reliable calculation to be made.
Source: Office for Students, access and participation data, 2022-23 (English universities only)
First-generation students
The proportion of students drawn from households where parents did not attend university.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Disabled students
The proportion of students in receipt of Disability Support Allowance.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Mature students
The proportion of students aged 21 or over upon admission to university. The number of “young” entrants (those aged 20 or under) was subtracted from the total number of admissions to calculate the proportion of mature students given places.
Source: Hesa 2021-22
Good University Guide 2025
See the full league table and a guide to all the universities, detailing everything from academic reputation to campus facilities, wellbeing support, and scholarships and bursaries, at The Sunday Times Good University Guide
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