4th, 5th and 6th in the UK: Complete University Guide 2026
York is ranked 4th in the UK for French, 5th in the UK for linguistics and 6th in the UK for Iberian languages in the latest release of the Complete University Guide league tables (2026).
This week, we maintained our place among the UK’s most highly regarded institutions for the subject of languages and linguistics. York ranked 4th, 5th and 6th in the UK for the study of French, linguistics and Iberian languages in the Complete University Guide 2026.
The Department/School specialises in languages and linguistics at York. Head of Department, Professor Monika Schmid said, "This is exciting news at an exciting time for the Department, as we are preparing to introduce more opportunities to combine the study of a language at York. We’re launching courses with subject areas such as business studies, education, literature, and politics from 2026. The results confirm that York remains one of the best places in the UK to study languages and linguistics".
York’s overall position
The University of York ranked 12th overall and 8th in the Russell Group in the Complete University Guide 2026. The guide ranks 130 institutions across the UK.
In total, 15 subjects at York were ranked in the UK top 10:
- Archaeology: 6th
- Biological Sciences: 7th
- Chemistry: 6th
- Drama, Dance and Cinematics: 5th
- English: 6th
- French: 4th
- History: 8th
- History of Art, Architecture and Design: 7th
- Iberian Languages: 6th
- Linguistics: 5th
- Marketing: 7th
- Philosophy: 8th
- Psychology: 5th
- Social Policy: 8th
- Social Work: 9th
A further four subjects appeared in the UK top 20.
About the Complete University Guide
Published annually, The Complete University Guide league tables rank the best universities in the UK. It covers 74 separate subject areas, as well as an overall institutional ranking. Universities and subjects are ranked on entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, graduate prospects, completion rates, student-staff ratio and spend on academic services and facilities.
The rankings are based on public domain data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the National Student Survey and the Research Excellence Framework 2021.