Few fields of study are as fundamental as physics. The subject has fascinated thinkers throughout history, leading to an understanding of our world that continues to develop. If the matters of matter, time and space capture your imagination, it could be the degree course for you – and there are many great ones in the UK. To give you some inspiration, we set out the top universities for physics in the UK, according to trusted rankings.
University of Cambridge
Physics students at Cambridge follow a long line of famous names who prove that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This is where Isaac Newton gained his bachelor's degree before getting to grips with gravity. Later alumni include Pakistani Nobel laureate Abdus Salam and Stephen Hawking, who taught here for more than 30 years. With a reputation that is hard to beat, Cambridge is rated as the UK's best university for physics by the Complete University Guide League Tables and Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The institution offers undergraduates a grounding in the subject that can take them a long way. Its bachelor's physics degree even provides a perfect pathway to a career in research. The extended four-year version of the course combines with a master's, and is intended for students with an eye on making discoveries.
Revelations come regularly at Cambridge's famed Cavendish Laboratory. Home to the university's physics department, this has been the site of some of the most important scientific findings of the past 150 years. The electron and neutron were both identified here, and with the opening of the ultra-modern Ray Dolby Centre, more major discoveries are set to follow.
Explore the differences between pure and applied sciences.
University of Oxford
The oldest university in the UK is another of the country's best places to study physics. The University of Oxford has been a leader in the subject for centuries, having been the breeding ground for Hooke's law. Today, Oxford physicists work on topics such as quantum computing, wearable solar panels and the revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope.
You can reach for the stars here on a three- or four-year undergraduate degree – the latter leads to a postgraduate MPhys qualification. Specialisms include astrophysics and planetary physics, with no matter too small or distant to investigate. On what the QS World University Rankings say is the UK's best physics course, the level of insight you'll encounter is beyond astronomical.
Accordingly, entry standards are high and competition for places is strong. In a typical year, one in three applicants are invited to an admissions interview, and one in eight are accepted. Those who are successful have a bright future ahead. After having the chance to work on real physics problems in industry during the course, all graduates are in work or further study after 15 months.
Discover more of the most popular STEM degrees.
Imperial College London
This world-renowned institution is so STEM-focused that it has the word scientia on its crest. Its physics department, based for many years at the Blackett Laboratory, has been home to countless researchers at the forefront of their field. These include Norman Lockyer, who discovered helium and founded the journal Nature. Today, Imperial follows only Oxford and Cambridge in the QS and Times Higher Education lists of the UK's best universities for physics.
As an undergraduate here, you may complete a three-year BSc or four-year integrated MSci degree. The latter is designed for students with an interest in research, but both encourage you to perform independent investigations at a high level. In addition to compulsory lab work and modules in solid state, nuclear and particle physics, the third year of the BSc offers the option of a research project focused on an unsolved physics problem.
Notably, Imperial also offers several specialised physics degrees. At undergraduate level, these include geophysics and a joint theoretical physics course. If you progress to postgraduate level, you can even focus on highly specific areas such as optics, photonics and quantum dynamics.
Some of these postgraduate courses lead to MRes qualifications. Find out more about this as we compare taught vs research master's.
The University of Manchester
Study here and you will learn from revolutionary material. Manchester is where Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov discovered graphene, the atom-thin carbon allotrope with remarkable properties that won them a Nobel Prize. Today, the university is home to the National Graphene Institute, based close to where the researchers made their name with a block of graphite and roll of adhesive tape.
Geim and Novoselov are still among the academic faculty at the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy. As its name highlights, this has particular strength in areas beyond Earth's atmosphere. The institution is responsible for the nearby Jodrell Bank Observatory, and employs some big names in the field of particle physics. Lectures are regularly given by Brian Cox.
Manchester runs a range of physics courses. Its undergraduate degrees include a joint physics and maths programme, as well as ones that focus on astrophysics and theoretical physics. At postgraduate level, the emphasis is on research. MSc options include astronomy and astrophysics, biological physics and nuclear physics. Each of these are by research, and are guided by some of the UK's leading physicists.
Consider our reasons to study astronomy.
UCL
Physics has been an area of UCL's expertise since it was founded in 1826. Numerous pioneers in the field have been associated with the university, including three Nobel laureates. Members of its High Energy Physics Group even contributed to the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider.
You can get down to the fundamentals on one of the institution's three- or four-year undergraduate degrees in physics, astrophysics or theoretical physics. Alternatively, you could even study medical physics. UCL distinguishes itself among the top physics universities in the UK by offering a bachelor's degree in this subject, which connects with biomedical engineering at the frontiers of healthcare.
At postgraduate level, you can study for a master's in specialised areas such as quantum technologies, nanotechnology – hosted by the cutting-edge London Centre for Nanotechnology – and planetary science. UCL is well-placed to offer an education in all things outer-space, as it is behind both the powerful UCL Observatory and the pioneering Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
Plan ahead with our list of top careers for STEM graduates.
Where else can I study physics in the UK?
Beyond these top UK universities for physics are many more places you can go to get a globally recognised degree in the subject. Other highly rated institutions include the University of Edinburgh and Durham University. The latter ranks third for physics on the Complete University Guide League Tables.
You can extend your search for UK physics degrees with the following universities:
- University of Birmingham
- University of Bristol
- University of Hull
- University of Surrey
- University of Sussex
Now you know more about the UK's top universities for physics, it might be time to explore further. Start with our guides to the UK higher education system and how to apply to university in the UK. You could also find your ideal course in the country with our simple search tool.
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