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Complete University has officially unveiled its ranking of UK universities for 2026. Every year it looks into a multitude of factors to decide how good our universities really are. Entry requirements, student satisfaction, graduate prospects and research quality were all among the things that were considered before each establishment was awarded a final score out of 1,000 and ranked.
If you’re an avid follower of university league tables (by the likes of Times Higher Education, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail and the Guardian) you probably won’t be surprised by the results. Cambridge and Oxford predictably held onto first and second place respectively, but one of London’s own claimed the bronze medal.
The London School of Economics (LSE) maintained third place with an overall score of 927 out of 1,000. It earned the one of the highest scores when it came to graduate prospects – 91 compared to Oxford and Cambridge’s 90. It got 3.53 out of four for research quality, 187 out of 200 for entry standards and 3.31 out of five for student satisfaction.
Imperial College London was bumped down one place to number sixth, having been overtaken by Durham University. With an overall score of 899, it scored 202 out of 215 for entry standards, 3.63 out of four for research quality and 3.12 out of five for student satisfaction. However, it did beat every university in the top five when it came to graduate prospects, boasting a score of 95.7 out of 100.
University College London, which landed in ninth place last year, was booted out of the top ten and plunged down to number 13 for 2026. See the full list of Complete University’s 10 best unis in the UK for 2026 here.
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