Complete University Guide reveals its top UK universities 2018

The University of Cambridge has maintained its first place position in the Complete University Guide 2018

April 26 2017

Email: seeta.bhardwa@timeshighereducation.com

Bridge of Sighs at St John's College, Cambridge

Compare the results with the THE World University Rankings 2016-2017

The University of Cambridge has maintained its number one position in the Complete University Guide’s 2018 ranking of the top universities in the UK.

The universities in the top 10 have remained unchanged from last year’s table, although a few of them have changed positions. While the University of Oxford stays second, the University of St Andrews has taken third place, up from fifth position last year. University College London has climbed three places to seventh, while Loughborough University has fallen three places to 10th. The other institutions in the top 10 are: London School of Economics and Political Science (4), Imperial College London (5), Durham University (6), University of Warwick (8) and Lancaster University (9).

For 2018, the Complete University Guide has ranked 129 universities compared with 127 universities in last year's ranking. The two new universities to enter the table in 2018 are Birkbeck, University of London (115) and the University of Suffolk (129).

Looking outside the top 10, the University of Nottingham and the University of Bristol are new entries in the top 20 in 2018, and two universities have dropped out of the top 20 (the University of Edinburgh and the University of Southampton).

The highest climber in this year's table is the University of West London, which jumped 26 places from 108 to 80. The university that experienced the biggest fall was De Montfort University, which fell 28 places from 54th to 82nd.

The Complete University Guide 2018 top 50 universities

Institution	2018 rank	2017 rank	Change
University of Cambridge	1	1	0
University of Oxford	2	2	0
University of St Andrews	3	5	2
London School of Economics and Political Science	4	3	-1
Imperial College London	5	4	-1
Durham University	6	6	0
University College London	7	10	3
University of Warwick	8	8	0
Lancaster University	9	9	0
Loughborough University	10	7	-3
University of Bath	11	11	0
University of East Anglia	12	14	2
University of Surrey	13	11	-2
University of Exeter	=14	13	-1
University of Leeds	=14	16	2
University of Birmingham	16	15	-1
University of Bristol	17	24	7
University of Nottingham	18	21	3
University of Sussex	19	18	-1
University of York	20	20	0
King's College London	21	21	0
University of Manchester	22	25	3
University of Edinburgh	=23	19	-4
Newcastle University	=23	25	2
University of Kent	25	23	-2
University of Southampton	=26	17	-9
University of Reading	=26	27	1
Heriot-Watt University	28	34	6
University of Dundee	29	35	6
University of Leicester	30	32	2
University of Sheffield	31	27	-4
University of Essex	32	41	11
Queen Mary University of London	33	31	-2
Royal Holloway, University of London	34	37	3
Queen's University Belfast	35	33	-2
University of Glasgow	=36	29	-7
Cardiff University	=36	35	-1
Soas, University of London	38	43	5
University of Stirling	39	39	0
University of Aberdeen	40	42	2
University of Liverpool	41	38	-3
City, University London	42	40	-2
Coventry University	43	50	7
University of Strathclyde	=44	48	4
Swansea University	=44	45	1
Harper Adams University	46	46	0
Brunel University London	47	52	5
Keele University	48	46	-2
Aston University	49	30	-19
Lincoln University	50	49	-1