Best universities for psychology in the UK 2025

By Joy.Hunter@tim…, 3 June, 2025

Top universities in the UK for psychology 2025

UK psychology rank 2024	Global psychology rank 2025	University	Overall	Teaching	Research Environment	Research Quality	Industry	International Outlook
1	2	University of Cambridge	90.5	96.2	90.4	87.8	67.3	95
2	6	UCL	88.4	91.5	95.9	81.2	70.7	93.4
3	9	King’s College London	83.6	80.5	85.8	79.8	100	95.4
4	23	University of Edinburgh	75.4	73.4	72.7	75.3	74.7	93.4
5	52	University of Glasgow	66.2	61.1	53.2	74.1	70	91
6	=53	London School of Economics and Political Science	65.9	60.1	46.4	82	37.6	94.6
=7	=65	University of Bristol	63.8	39.9	48.1	87.4	71.9	89.5
=7	=65	University of York	63.8	54.8	53.9	74.8	73	75
9	=70	University of Birmingham	62.7	52.7	54.5	71.2	65.9	85.3
10	76	Cardiff University	61.6	52.5	48.4	72.3	79.5	80.8
11	77	University of Sussex	61.5	44.1	50	77.4	69.3	84.8
12	81	University of Manchester	60.4	51.4	44.4	73.9	78.2	76.3
13	86	Birkbeck, University of London	59.5	46.1	51.9	68.5	66.3	87.5
14	88	University of Kent	59.1	34.6	32.9	91	58.1	90.1
15	89	University of Nottingham	58.2	43.6	39.2	75.8	76.5	85.8
16	91	University of Bath	57.9	48	32.4	78.3	59.3	86.5
17	94	University of St Andrews	57.3	46	40.4	68.8	74.1	93.9
18	99	Goldsmiths, University of London	56.7	41.5	32.6	79.4	58.4	88.9
19	100	University of Warwick	56.6	39.2	41.9	73.9	50.7	92.4
=20	101–125	Durham University	54.1–56.4	36.2	31.8	77.4	62.3	92.7
=20	101–125	University of Exeter	54.1–56.4	36.3	33.2	82.2	43.6	83.9
=20	101–125	University of Sheffield	54.1–56.4	39.1	32.9	80.3	72	72.9
=20	101–125	University of Southampton	54.1–56.4	42.1	28.9	79.9	66.6	88.5
=24	126–150	Lancaster University	51.3–54.0	39.5	37.8	71.3	40.4	88.2
=24	126–150	Newcastle University	51.3–54.0	31.2	39.5	71.7	64.6	74.3
=24	126–150	University of Essex	51.3–54.0	41.1	27.4	74.5	48.4	90.3
=24	126–150	University of Leeds	51.3–54.0	40.3	29.1	75.7	68.1	79.5
=28	151–175	City, University of London	49.5–51.2	41.5	35.5	59.4	41.3	88.5
=28	151–175	Royal Holloway, University of London	49.5–51.2	39.6	27.5	68.6	61.3	84.6
=28	151–175	University of Liverpool	49.5–51.2	31	28.7	75.5	64.2	68.9
=28	151–175	University of Reading	49.5–51.2	27.3	20.5	80.3	64.8	83.6
=32	176–200	Loughborough University	47.4–49.3	31.5	37.8	64.1	37.8	77
=32	176–200	Queen’s University Belfast	47.4–49.3	33.9	24.5	68.4	48.9	94.1
=34	201–250	Aston University	44.5–47.3	17.1	16.2	80.1	68	70.2
=34	201–250	Nottingham Trent University	44.5–47.3	23.8	18.1	77.6	30.8	85.2
=34	201–250	University of Aberdeen	44.5–47.3	28.2	28.7	61.8	66.8	93.8
=34	201–250	University of Leicester	44.5–47.3	20.4	15.2	81	41.5	83.6
=34	201–250	University of Portsmouth	44.5–47.3	26.9	20.1	69.4	45.9	89.5
	201–250	UWE Bristol (University of the West of England)	44.5–47.3	21.4	13.1	83.8	71.7	74.5
=39	251–300	Brunel University of London	42.2–44.4	18.2	15.7	73	47.2	93.5
=39	251–300	Heriot-Watt University	42.2–44.4	20.2	12.9	75.2	39.7	92.6
=39	251–300	Middlesex University	42.2–44.4	32.1	18	62.3	32.8	78.7
=39	251–300	Swansea University	42.2–44.4	15.9	17.7	74.9	67.9	78
=39	251–300	University of East Anglia	42.2–44.4	29.6	18.3	65.4	24.3	83.9
=39	251–300	University of Stirling	42.2–44.4	21.9	19.6	66.1	47.6	88.8
=39	251–300	University of Surrey	42.2–44.4	27.3	17.1	68.8	54.3	77.1
=46	301–400	Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)	37.2–42.1	14.4	14.5	67.6	28	92.5
=46	301–400	Bangor University	37.2–42.1	32.5	18.1	47.3	67	86.8
=46	301–400	Coventry University	37.2–42.1	20.4	12.1	64.3	27.5	85.6
=46	301–400	Edinburgh Napier University	37.2–42.1	13.5	12.4	76.7	22.6	79.9
=46	301–400	Kingston University	37.2–42.1	16	12.3	61.8	61.1	89.7
=46	301–400	Liverpool John Moores University	37.2–42.1	21.1	19.5	59.9	59.4	65
=46	301–400	Northumbria University	37.2–42.1	13.4	16	65.4	67	77.8
=46	301–400	Ulster University	37.2–42.1	16.6	18	66.2	39.8	76
=46	301–400	University of Brighton	37.2–42.1	14.1	19.4	58	64.9	76.2
=46	301–400	University of Derby	37.2–42.1	20.4	12.7	67.6	29	64.2
=46	301–400	University of Dundee	37.2–42.1	13.6	17.6	56.9	62.7	87.9
=46	301–400	University of East London	37.2–42.1	28.8	13.3	53.2	30.1	80.3
=46	301–400	University of Greenwich	37.2–42.1	10.8	10.7	66.4	30.5	92.6
=46	301–400	University of Hertfordshire	37.2–42.1	25.4	14.9	61.7	50	73.7
=46	301–400	University of Strathclyde	37.2–42.1	24.7	18	63.9	45.1	70
=61	401–500	Bournemouth University	31.9–37.0	12.7	12.6	59.1	32.4	79.6
=61	401–500	De Montfort University	31.9–37.0	13.8	8.9	60.5	31	90.7
=61	401–500	Glasgow Caledonian University	31.9–37.0	18.1	13	56.4	45.3	71.9
=61	401–500	Keele University	31.9–37.0	13.2	12.5	56.6	54.3	73.9
=61	401–500	Leeds Beckett University	31.9–37.0	19.4	11	56.5	19.9	58.4
=61	401–500	London South Bank University	31.9–37.0	17.6	11.6	55.3	17.3	94.8
=61	401–500	Manchester Metropolitan University	31.9–37.0	18.2	14.1	60.1	27.8	66.6
=61	401–500	Oxford Brookes University	31.9–37.0	15.9	17	56.8	29.9	79.9
=61	401–500	Teesside University	31.9–37.0	26.4	9.4	59	17.3	62.8
=61	401–500	University of Central Lancashire	31.9–37.0	17	13.8	53	49	66.3
=61	401–500	University of Huddersfield	31.9–37.0	24.3	11.5	56.9	27.7	62.7
=61	401–500	University of Hull	31.9–37.0	23.8	11.2	51.4	49.2	74
=61	401–500	University of Lincoln	31.9–37.0	19.6	12	62.6	28.2	70.6
=61	401–500	University of Plymouth	31.9–37.0	28.6	14.2	48.9	61.6	75.7
=61	401–500	University of Roehampton	31.9–37.0	20.9	10.6	54.2	44.4	80.4
=61	401–500	University of Westminster	31.9–37.0	14.1	8.1	56.6	69.7	80.3
=77	501–600	Canterbury Christ Church University	25.9–31.8	25.3	9.3	44.7	35.1	62.3
=77	501–600	Edge Hill University	25.9–31.8	13	9.5	53.5	17.6	61.2
=77	501–600	Sheffield Hallam University	25.9–31.8	13.3	9.7	52.1	32.7	66.3
=77	501–600	The Open University	25.9–31.8	20.1	10	41.6	29.7	52.9
=77	501–600	University of Salford	25.9–31.8	15	10.4	44.1	25.7	54.6
=77	501–600	University of South Wales	25.9–31.8	16.6	9.1	39.7	20	58.2
=77	501–600	University of Staffordshire	25.9–31.8	22.4	7.8	41.9	20.8	45.2
=77	501–600	University of the West of Scotland	25.9–31.8	12.1	9.6	49.6	25.3	64.1
=77	501–600	University of Wolverhampton	25.9–31.8	19.9	9.2	44.7	24.2	62.7
86	601+	Birmingham City University	15.8–25.8	12.7	8.5	34.7	17.4	68.9

Key insights into the top schools for psychology in the UK

The University of Cambridge is the top university in the UK for a psychology degree.
Some 86 universities in the UK are featured in the table for the best universities for psychology in the UK.
King's College London achieves the top score for its links to industry.
The Psychology table evaluates schools and colleges across several narrower disciplines: Clinical Psychology, Educational Psychology, Sport Psychology, Business Psychology and Animal Psychology.

Choosing the Right University in the UK for Psychology

When selecting a university for psychology in the UK, rankings can provide a helpful benchmark for assessing academic strength and how well a university prepares you for a future career.

The Times Higher Education Subject Rankings: Psychology assess universities using five core pillars:

Research environment
Teaching quality
Research quality
Industry collaboration
International outlook

These indicators give students and families reliable insights into how institutions perform across critical areas of education and innovation.

The table for the best universities for psychology in the UK was derived from data collected for the THE World University Subject Rankings: Psychology. The results are calculated using 18 performance indicators underlying five metrics. For more insights and a detailed breakdown of our ranking methodology, visit our methodology page. Use the ranking table above to explore the right institution for you.

Thumbnail image

Section

Best universities

Subjects

Psychology

Standfirst

Discover the best psychology schools in the UK featuring 86 universities across the UK. The UK ranking is derived from the Times Higher Education University Rankings by Subject 2025: Psychology, released in January 2025.

The list is based on a comprehensive assessment that scores top universities in the UK in psychology in areas such as teaching, research and international outlook for studying psychology. The methodology is designed by Times Higher Education’s in-house data team, and it is trusted by students, academics, policymakers, and industry leaders worldwide.

Country

United Kingdom

CTA

BMI (Old SI-UK) CTA

Student logo

Display TAP Popcard?

Best universities for psychology in the UK 2025

Top universities in the UK for psychology 2025

Key insights into the top schools for psychology in the UK

Choosing the Right University in the UK for Psychology

Comments