Welcome to the fourth edition of the Daily Mail University Guide, designed to be a trusted companion as you weigh up one of the biggest decisions of your life: where to study, and which course to choose.
I have been producing university guides since 1998, the year Tony Blair brought in £1,000 tuition fees as a student contribution to the cost of higher education. Almost three decades on, that word “contribution” feels increasingly outdated. Today, students — and often their parents — are expected to bear most of the financial burden of going to university.
Those using this guide with a view to starting university in September 2027 will be the first cohort to face annual tuition fees of more than £10,000. It is a significant threshold, and one that makes reliable university advice, careful research and clear decision-making more important than ever.
My own perspective on higher education has shifted considerably over the past 30 years — not least since becoming the father of three university students.
I have helped my children choose their universities, and I have seen first-hand what shapes the student experience: what leaves them frustrated, what makes them feel supported, and where they gain the skills and knowledge that genuinely prepare them for life beyond campus. That experience has helped shape this guide. The Daily Mail University Guide ranks institutions on the factors that matter most to today’s students and families, including graduate job prospects, starting salaries, teaching standards, student support and the broader quality of university life.
This guide contains our definitive ranking that takes into account all these measures and more – 12 in total – to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date league table of UK universities. And there are 79 subject tables, available through our interactive University Finder tool and topped by 38 different universities, not all of them the best known. Each one is briefly profiled in this guide and in more depth on our website, where you will also find details of financial support, admissions and accommodation prices – the latter so often underwritten by the Bank of Mum and Dad.
The need for good advice and clear thinking when making your university choices, writes Alastair McCall, is highlighted by tuition fees topping £10,000 a year in fees – a symbolic landmark that highlights
I’m Alastair McCall, one of the UK’s leading data journalists and Editor of the Daily Mail University Guide.
I’ve been compiling university guides since 1998, and the need for good advice has never been greater. Rising prices, an increasingly tricky graduate job market, it’s not easy for students. My own perspective has changed in recent years, too, since I became the dad of three university students myself. Now, I want to help you. I am hosting a live group chat NOW where you can ask me anything – whether its tips on Clearing, job prospects or even student life. I’m here for you.
Click here to join my group chat and ask me your questions
Even with parental contributions, the average student debt stood at £47,900 this year. When coupled with the trickiest graduate jobs market in a generation, it is no wonder the question being asked in sixth forms and households up and down the country is whether the cost of university is worth it. I believe it still is – but only if you choose carefully.
This is a view shared by the Skills Minister responsible for higher education, Jacqui Smith, who warned in June that going to university was ‘not a universal guarantee of success and not all degrees are equal’. She added: ‘My message to those thinking about university [is] choose carefully. Don’t walk into a degree by default.’ The choice of both university and course is critical. There are great ones to be found but there are others where the returns for students are more questionable.
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If the institution you are interested in ranks near the bottom of the table for the subject you want to study, ask yourself why. It will be because either graduates in that subject do not fare well in the jobs market or students do not rate highly their teaching, support or university experience. These are the only criteria used to create our subject rankings.
Our unique University Finder allows you to create a league table based on the performance indicators that matter to you. So, if you want to look at only graduate employment, you can zero the weightings on the other measures.
And take a look at our 13 Universities of the Year. These are the institutions that we think offer the best deal for students across the categories in which they have triumphed. The University of Birmingham is our University of the Year, while Imperial College London tops our table for the fourth consecutive year. Birmingham rises seven places – by far the biggest move in our elite top 20 – and its students are among the most in demand with graduate employers. Students rate their teaching and university experience highly.
The pattern of university recruitment is changing. If you are set on trying to get into a Russell Group university, there has never been a better moment. Once never seen in Clearing, 18 of the 24-strong Russell Group of research-led universities are now active players in the post-results recruitment market, many expanding fast.
Let our guide help you identify the universities where you stand the best chance of getting a good job afterwards
A Daily Mail analysis of UCAS admissions data shows the number of undergraduates recruited jumped by 25% or more at six institutions between 2023 and 2025 – University College London (51%, although mostly overseas students), Durham (47% and overwhelming made up of UK students), York (33%), Liverpool (32%), Warwick (26%) and Leeds (25%).
In all, the Russell Group recruited an extra 26,000 undergraduates in 2025 compared to two years before. So, there are more places at the top table than you might think, accessible with lower grades than once was the case.
And as a direct consequence of this aggressive recruitment strategy, in which 17 of the group have grown their undergraduate intake by at least 11.5% between 2023 and 2025, other universities that would have previously taken many of those additional students are scrambling around to fill places, meaning there is a huge amount of choice on offer lower down the university pecking order.
Our definitive ranking shines a light on some of those institutions. Take Staffordshire, our Modern University of the Year, and Worcester, our University of the Year for Graduate Jobs. At the latter, 80% of graduates gain high-skilled jobs, ranking it 11th in the UK on this measure – ahead of 17 Russell Group universities and their higher entry requirements. Meanwhile, Staffordshire’s all-round performance puts it just three places below the lowest-ranked Russell Group institution.
So, don’t just look at the big guns. Let our guide help you identify the universities where you stand the best chance of getting a good job afterwards – and enjoying your experience while you study. With the costs of getting a degree so high, that’s the least you should expect and why this guide is essential reading for anyone considering higher education.
Alastair McCall is honorary professor of quantitative studies at the University of Buckingham and deputy director of its Centre for Education and Employment Research.