UK’s best universities -25 top schools across league tables

With GCE A levels results set for release on Thursday, August 13, 2015, the race to clinch spots at United Kingdom’s top universities will reach a crescendo by the weekend.

Across league tables quite a number of universities come tops. And parents who want the best for their children and wards always consider first the top 25 universities.

On Complete University Guide, for 2015 and 2016 session, here at the top 25:

1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. London School of Economics
4. Imperial College London
5. Durham
6. St Andrews
7. Warwick
8. Surrey
9. Lancaster
10. Exeter
11. Bath
12. Loughborough
13. University College London
14. Southampton
15. Bristol
16. East Anglia
17. York
18. Birmingham
19. Leeds
20. Edinburgh
21. Sussex
22. Kent
23. King’s College London
24. Leicester
25. Nottingham

For the influential newspaper, Guardian, these universities top their list:

1. 1.Cambridge
2. 2.Oxford
3. 3.St Andrews
4. 4.Surrey
5. 5.Bath
6. 6.Durham
7. Warwick
8. Imperial College
9. Exeter
10. 10.Lancaster
11. 11.Loughborough
12. UCL
13. London School of Economics
14. Southampton
15. Coventry
16. Kent
17. Birmingham
18. Heriot-Watt
19. Sussex
20. Edinburgh
21. UEA
22. York
23. Leeds
24. Glasgow
25. Reading

The Telegraph listed top 10 UK universities in the world, and they are:

• The University of Warwick
• The University of Glasgow
• 8.The University of Manchester
• The University of Bristol
• 6.The University of Edinburgh
• King’s College London
• University College London
• University of Oxford
• Imperial College London
• University of Cambridge

Across the tables, many criteria are used in arriving at the best schools. They include entry standards, student satisfaction, research facility and graduate prospects.

For different courses, the universities each have comparative advantages. Many of them excel in particular courses.

For example, for Civil Engineering, the top schools are:

1. Cambridge
2. Imperial College London
3. Bath
4. Southampton
5. Bristol
6. Edinburgh
7. Sheffield
8. Surrey
9. Heriot-watt
10. 10.Dundee

Tuition across the schools range from £9,000 to £30,000 depending on the course and the status of the student (home or international).

Reports have it that spaces in some of these top universities are already filled for the 2015 and 2016 session. So, unless you have already applied, sure of outstanding grades, getting in is very difficult!