York maintains top 20 position in influential university guide

Posted on Tuesday 2 June 2026

The annual league table is aimed at guiding prospective students in their higher education decision making - which ranks 130 universities throughout the UK.

The table is based on a range of criteria, including entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, student-staff ratio, spending on academic services and spending on facilities.

York, ranked 20th in the main league table for 2027, has gone up in five of the metrics, including student satisfaction and spending on facilities.

Professor Amanda Chetwynd, Chair of the Complete University Guide Advisory Board, said: “Our methodology draws on a range of trusted, independent measures that reflect what students care most about - teaching quality, student satisfaction and graduate outcomes.

"This year’s rankings show that the opportunity to attend a prestigious university has never been more accessible.”

York is one of only four UK universities to be rated both Gold for teaching and top ten for research in the latest national assessment exercises, as positioned in the latest Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and by the Times Higher Education ranking of the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF).