Philosophy at York ranks 7th in The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027

Posted on Tuesday 22 September 2026

The Department of Philosophy has placed 7th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027 for the subject of Philosophy. The ranking recognises the quality of our courses, and the experiences and opportunities they provide to our students.

Our Head of Department Professor Keith Allen said: “We are delighted by this result which reflects the achievements of our students, and the opportunities for developing the broad range of skills and abilities that our programmes in philosophy provide.”

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide uses data on entry standards, student-staff ratios, completion rates, first-class and 2:1 degrees, and graduate prospects. It combines these with measures of research quality, student satisfaction and social inclusion to award each university an overall score, broken down by subject.

York’s overall position

The University as a whole ranks 18th overall, up two places from 2026.

In total, 10 subjects at York ranked in the UK top 10:

• Department of Language and Linguistic Science
  2nd for Italian
  3rd for French, German and Iberian Languages
  4th for Linguistics
• School for Business and Society
  2nd for Social Work
• Department of Philosophy
  7th for Philosophy
• Department of Sociology
  8th for Criminology
• Department of Chemistry
  7th for Chemistry
• Department of History
  10th for History
• Hull York Medical School
  10th for Medicine

A further two subjects ranked in the top 20.