Finding the right university can be difficult, especially when you’re applying for a subject that’s taught at 80+ universities in the UK. If you don’t know where to start, university rankings may be a good option.Â
Ranking tables are made for every major subject taught in the UK and use a wide selection of data and facts to determine which universities are the best for specific courses. However, while these tables can be useful, they aren’t perfect and shouldn’t be the only resource you use when selecting university choices.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at the two most popular ranking tables in the UK to see how each one ranks English degrees. Plus, we’ll see how rankings can be used to effectively select your preferred university through a mixture of data and subjective opinion. Let’s get started.Â
Who Makes The History rankings?
The first question is, “Who makes these tables?” Thankfully, this is easy to answer, although there’s not just one organisation behind it. Both nationally and internationally, there are many bodies that create these tables based on data, ranking universities either within a single country or worldwide. These lists can be based on many things, though general and subject lists are the most common.Â
Of the ranking tables created for UK universities, the two most popular are made by Complete University Guide and The Guardian. Both of these tables gather data from similar places, but these lists can vary greatly due to how the data is interpreted and how scores are calculated for each category.Â
Therefore, there’s no “definitive” list of which universities are best as the ranking tables we have are all judged in slightly different ways. To get a better understanding of what this means for the rankings, let’s look at the top 25 entries from each list to understand how they’re made and what they look like.Â
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The Guardian History Rankings
To create their History degree rankings, The Guardian uses the following headings:
Guardian score/100 – rating of excellence based on a combination of the other factors.
Satisfied with the course – the rating of the overall quality of the course, given by final-year students in the latest National Students Survey (NSS) given as a percentage.
Satisfied with the teaching – the rating of the quality of teaching on the course given by final-year students in the latest NSS.
Satisfied with feedback – the rating of the feedback and assessment, given by final-year students in the latest NSS.
Student to staff ratio – number of students per member of teaching staff.
Spend-per student/10 – money spent on each student, excluding academic staff costs, given as a rating out of ten.
Average entry tariff – typical UCAS scores of young entrants to the department.
Value-added score/10 – this score compares students’ degree results with their entry qualifications, to show how effectively they are taught – given as a score out of ten.
Career after 15 months – percentage of graduates who find graduate-level jobs, or are in further study at professional or higher education level, within 15 months of graduation.
Continuation – percentage of first-year students continuing to second-year.
The Guardian has various sources to base their scores on and create their lists, including the National Student Survey (NSS)(which collects student satisfaction data) and the information provided by universities themselves. Although a combination of subjective and objective factors is considered, the data is analyzed impartially to ensure the rankings accurately reflect the information gathered.
The Guardian History University Rankings 2024
Below are the top 25 entries of The Guardian’s league table for History, with both the results for 2024 and a comparison to 2023’s results:Â
| Postition | University | Previous Position (2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of St. Andrews | 1st (=) |
| 2 | University of Oxford | 2nd (=) |
| 3 | University of Cambridge | 3rd (=) |
| 4 | Bournemouth University | 9th (>5) |
| 5 | Durham University | 4th (<1) |
| 6 | London School of Economics (LSE) | 5th (<1) |
| 7 | University of Suffolk | 6th (<1) |
| 8 | University of Warwick | 8th (=) |
| 9 | University College London | 8th (<1) |
| 10 | Teeside University | 41st (>31) |
| 11 | University of York | 14th (>3) |
| 12 | University of Roehampton | 11th (<1) |
| 13 | University of Strathclyde | 50th (>37) |
| 14 | University of Derby | 39th (>25) |
| 15 | Leeds Beckett University | 24th (>9) |
| 16 | University of East Anglia (UEA) | 10th (<6) |
| 17 | University of Manchester | 25th (>8) |
| 18 | Liverpool Hope University | 46th (>28) |
| 19 | King’s College London | 27th (>8) |
| 20 (=) | University of Bristol | 34th (>14) |
| 20 (=) | University of Huddersfield | 23rd (>3) |
| 22 (=) | Aberystwyth University | 46th (>24) |
| 22 (=) | Ulster University | 54th (>32) |
| 24 | Queen Mary University of London | 19th (<5) |
| 25 | University of Southampton | 13th (<12) |
Looking at this list, there are a few notable things to mention. Starting with the top ten first, we can see many of the universities commonly considered the best in the UK, including four of the five G5 Universities (Imperial does not teach History, so is not included on the list.Â
Oxford and Cambridge score near the top, which is common in any list they appear on, but it’s St Andrew’s that takes the top spot. This is sometimes considered the best university in Scotland and is often ranked above the Oxbridge universities by The Guardian.Â
Rounding out the rest of the top ten are a mixture of common picks (Warwick, Durham) and unis that are less commonly ranked high (Bournemouth, Suffolk, Teeside). We can also see that Teeside saw a drastic leap in the rankings, going up 31 places from 41st to 10th.Â
However, this isn’t the only university to have a vastly different placement compared to 2023’s list, with the top 25 also seeing the inclusion of Liverpool Hope (up 28), Ulster (up 32) and Strathclyde (up 37). These are all really large changes, but there are also a handful of universities that fell down drastically in the rankings.Â
The University of Hull (12th in 2023, 42nd in 2024), Keele University (15th in 2023, 58th in 2024) and Birmingham Newman University (18th in 2023, 66th in 2024) all fell more than 30 places this year, showing how volatile these rankings can be.Â
The Complete University Guide History Rankings
Overall score – the total score calculated by The Complete University Guide’s independent and trusted methodology.
Entry standards – the average UCAS tariff of new students entering university.
Student satisfaction – a guide to how satisfied students are with the quality of teaching they receive.
Research quality – a measure of the quality of the research undertaken by the university.
Research intensity – a measure of the proportion of staff involved in high-quality research at the university.
Graduate prospects – outcomes – a guide to the success of graduates after leaving university.
Graduate prospects – on track – a measure of whether recent graduates agree that their current activity fits with their future plans.
The Complete University Guide groups several factors into broader categories, which is why it provides fewer scores compared to The Guardian’s list. However, the data is gathered from similar sources, such as the NSS and universities, so the variations primarily arise from differences in how the data is interpreted.
Complete University Guide History University Ranking Table 2024
Below are the top 25 entries Complete University Guide History ranking table, with both the results for 2024 and the comparison to 2023’s results:Â
| Postition | University | Previous Position (2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cambridge | 2nd (>1) |
| 2 | University of Oxford | 1st (<1) |
| 3 | University of St. Andrews | 1st (=) |
| 4 | Durham University | 4th (=) |
| 5 | London School of Economics (LSE) | 5th (=) |
| 6 | University College London (UCL) | 7th (>1) |
| 7 | University of Warwick | 6th (<1) |
| 8 | University of Exeter | 10th (>2) |
| 9 | University of York | 9th (=) |
| 10 | King’s College London | 8th (<2) |
| 11 | University of Manchester | 11th (=) |
| 12 | University of Bristol | 12th (=) |
| 13 | University of Birmingham | 14th (>1) |
| 14 | University of Leeds | 13th (<1) |
| 15 | Loughborough University | 18th (>3) |
| 16 | Lancaster University | 17th (>1) |
| 17 | University of Edinburgh | 15th (<2) |
| 18 | University of Sheffield | 20th (>2) |
| 19 | University of Nottingham | 19th (=) |
| 20 | University of Sussex | 25th (>5) |
| 21 | University of Strathclyde | 21st (=) |
| 22 | University of Southampton | 16th (<6) |
| 23 | University of Glasgow | 24th (>1) |
| 24 | University of East Anglia (UEA) | 23rd (<2) |
| 25 | Queen Mary University of London | 22nd (<3) |
This list has many similarities and differences to the The Guardian’s list, so let’s unpack what we can see.Â
In the top ten, we find many of the same universities that The Guardian included, with just a few differences throughout. However, as we move down, we can see that there are more universities from major cities, many of which are in England. There is slightly less representation from Scotland and especially Wales, which only has one university in the top 25.Â
Looking at position changes, we can see that the rankings are much more stable on this list, with only a handful of significant movements. These include Sussex (up five places) and Southampton (down six places), which are very minor when compared to the The Guardian’s list.Â
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The Best and Worst UK Universities For History
Best UK Universities For History
As we previously discussed, the top five for both lists are very similar, but let’s break down why these universities are considered the best.Â
Complete University Guide
- University of Cambridge
- University of Oxford
- University of St. Andrews
- Durham University
- London School of Economics
The Guardian
- University of St. Andrews
- University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
- Bournemouth University
- Durham University
As is standard for the core subject at UK universities, Oxford and Cambridge each appear in the top five, though only Cambridge took the top spot on either list. St. Andrews is another commonly high-ranking university, being considered one of the best in Scotland, which appears first on The Guardian’s list and third on Complete University Guide’s.Â
Durham and LSE are two other commonly high-ranking universities, both being a part of the Russell Group. However, the outlier here is Bournemouth, ranked fourth by The Guardian. This university isn’t frequently seen this high on ranking lists, and Complete University Guide actually ranked it 60th, 56 places lower.Â
Bournemouth seems to have excelled in The Guardian’s list thanks to high scores in student satisfaction and value-added, while Complete Uni Guide gave low scores in Entry Standards and Graduate Prospects. This is an excellent demonstration of how the data used can be interpreted differently and why these tables can’t act as a definitive ranking.Â
Worst UK Universities For History
Before we begin, it’s important to clarify that calling these universities the “worst” for History doesn’t necessarily mean their courses are poor. Rather, this label comes from the fact that they rank the lowest according to the criteria used by these ranking organisations.
Complete University Guide
- Bishop Grosseteste University
- University of the Highlands and Islands
- University of Westminster
- University of Wolverhampton
- Canterbury Christ Church University
The Guardian
- University of Winchester
- University of the Highlands and Islands
- University of Greenwich
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- University of Westminster
While the selection of universities at the bottom of the list is pretty varied, we can see that there are two shared entries; Westminster and Highlands & Islands. However, it’s very common between the two tables to have a lot of variance in their lower rankings.Â
None of these universities are seen as major institutions within the UK. Of these, some of the most notable are Westminster and Goldsmiths, both universities located in London.
Which Ranking Table Should I Follow?
Lastly, we should consider whether one of these rankings is more reliable than the other. Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear-cut answer, as neither table has distinct advantages or flaws over the other. While the rankings differ, these variations stem from slight differences in data interpretation and scoring rather than any inherent bias or subjective factors.
The Guardian’s ranking focuses more on the student perspective via various satisfaction ratings, while The Complete University Guide places greater emphasis on research, employment prospects, and student satisfaction. Depending on which factors matter most to you, one ranking might be more helpful than the other. However, overall, neither table is inherently superior.
For instance, if your primary focus is on objective statistics and data concerning the admissions process, you’ll want to examine the entry requirements and acceptance rates for each university you’re considering. Prestigious institutions like Oxford and Cambridge typically have very strict entry requirements and low acceptance rates (13.8% at Oxford and 16.6% at Cambridge), so it’s essential to evaluate whether your application will be competitive enough.
However, there’s more to the decision-making process than which university has the best statistics. Selecting a university should also involve a subjective component, as it’s important to ensure you will enjoy both living and studying at your chosen institution. We’d recommend attending open days they’re an excellent way to inform your decision, allowing you to explore the facilities, check out the surrounding area, and ask questions to faculty and current students.
Conclusion
This wraps up our look at History university rankings in the UK. While these tables can serve as a useful starting point for your research, it’s important to remember that they are not the sole factors to take into account. There are numerous ways to evaluate whether a university is the right choice for you, and the highest-ranked institutions may not always align with your personal preferences and needs.
While rankings provide a framework for expectations, they aren’t absolute—indeed, we’ve observed significant fluctuations from year to year! Conduct your research, visit the universities you’re interested in and remain open-minded. You’re bound to discover a university that suits you well, regardless of its ranking!
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