The Complete University Guide League Tables 2024

Deciding on the right university for you can be challenging, but looking at rankings is a big help. If you’re considering studying in the UK, the Complete University Guide League Tables should be one of the first you check. This year’s edition has just been released and offers a range of information to guide you along your study abroad journey. From the universities that are most highly rated for individual subjects to the ones that are ranked best overall, the tables are a rich source of insights. Read on to find out if they could shape your thinking.

What are the Complete University Guide League Tables?

The Complete University Guide (CUG) League Tables are a rigorously compiled set of university rankings, based on reliable data that relates to criteria of great importance to students. These criteria are:

• Entry standards
• Student satisfaction
• Research quality
• Research intensity (the proportion of teaching staff involved in research)
• Graduate prospects
• Student-staff ratio
• Academic services spend (how much money is spent on academic services, in proportion to the number of students)
• Facilities spend (how much money is spent on student and staff facilities, in proportion to the number of students)
• Continuation (the percentage of students who are expected to complete their course or transfer elsewhere)

The data used to measure these criteria comes from trusted and freely available sources. These are the National Student Survey, the Research Excellence Framework, and the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Once the data has undergone complex statistical modelling, it forms scores for each criterion for every university in the country. Upon those, the tables are designed.

As scores are also given for universities’ performance in individual subjects, there are tables for that, too. So, whether you are looking for an institution that rates highly overall or are more concerned with those that do best for what you want to study, CUG has you covered. For more information on how they put the tables together, read a thorough explanation from CUG.

What do the 2024 CUG League Tables reveal?

Illustrious institutions continue to rank highly. After spending the last two years as runner-up, the University of Cambridge has regained its place at the top of the overall CUG table. Its historic rival Oxford moves down to second position, while London’s LSE and Scotland’s St Andrews maintain their third and fourth places. Completing the top five is the University of Bath, which continues an impressive rise. Last year, it took the eighth position, having been 10th the year before.

Complete University Guide League Table 2024 top 10

Here are the overall top 10 ranked universities in full:

Complete University Guide League Tables 2024 by subject

As mentioned earlier, the CUG tables also offer insight into which universities are best for individual subjects. With so many of them measured, you are very likely to find an assessment of the one that you intend to study – whether that be veterinary medicine or Iberian languages.

Sometimes, the best place for your degree might not be the one deemed best for everyone. So, to give you an idea of how subject rankings can differ from overall ones, here is an overview of how universities fare for the degrees that are most popular with international students.

Mechanical engineering

While the top two universities for mechanical engineering are the same as the top two universities overall, five of the top ten are different. Most prominent among these is the fourth-place University of Bristol, which joins Bath as one of two southwest England universities in the top five. Elsewhere, the northern county of Yorkshire has two universities in the top 10: Sheffield and Leeds.

Medicine

Once more, a familiar top two disguises a top 10 that is very different to that of the overall table. Six of the best universities for studying medicine do not feature in that list, including the University of Glasgow in third place. Furthermore, top medicine courses can be found across a wider geographical area. Universities from across the UK feature in this list, including three in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland.

Business and management studies

The overall number one does not feature at all in the top 10 universities for studying business, with Oxford taking first place. Half of the institutions in this list are absent from the main top 10, but are recognised here for their specific strengths in the field of enterprise. London universities rate particularly highly, with four making an appearance, but other top scorers can be found across various parts of the UK. These great options range from Exeter in the southwest of England to St Andrews in the east of Scotland.

What can I do with this information?

The information provided by the CUG league tables can be a lot to take in, especially when you break them down by subject and into the various criteria on which they are based. It may help to take a look at the headline figures before drilling into the details, and not to jump to too many conclusions before you do so. As the variations in the subject lists above show, there is never one simple answer as to which university is best.

Additionally, while the CUG tables are a valuable tool for assessing which university is right for you, it is worth remembering that they are not the only university rankings available. For more evaluations, you could check the QS or Times Higher Education lists. These have the advantage of being global rankings, so do not only look at UK universities.

Moreover, it is important not to forget that the things that matter most to you should come first. For example, suppose you have a personal preference for a university that ranks lower than another that you have already discounted. In that case, that does not mean that you should immediately change your mind.

Ultimately, you should take the guidance of rankings like the CUG league tables as just one part of your university research. A good way to continue this – especially if you are at an early stage in your decision-making – is to use our simple site search tool. Answer a few questions about your preferences, and you could soon find your ideal university and course.