The prestigious University of Oxford - in the city of Oxford, in England’s South East - is thought to be the oldest in the English-speaking world. One half of the elite ‘Oxbridge’ duo, it was the UK’s number one university overall for 2025, according to The Guardian’s ranking system. It was given a score of 94.3 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there.The prestigious University of Oxford - in the city of Oxford, in England’s South East - is thought to be the oldest in the English-speaking world. One half of the elite ‘Oxbridge’ duo, it was the UK’s number one university overall for 2025, according to The Guardian’s ranking system. It was given a score of 94.3 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there.
The prestigious University of Oxford - in the city of Oxford, in England’s South East - is thought to be the oldest in the English-speaking world. One half of the elite ‘Oxbridge’ duo, it was the UK’s number one university overall for 2025, according to The Guardian’s ranking system. It was given a score of 94.3 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there. | Adobe Stock

The Guardian University Guide: The 15 UK universities where students are happiest with teaching quality

Amber Allott
By Amber Allott

Education writer

Published 6th Mar 2025, 14:05 BST

The highest performing universities don’t necessarily have the most satisfied students 🏫

The summer secondary school exam season is coming up fast, with this year’s school leavers now into their final months of revision.

Many of them will be planning on heading off to university next, and may be striving for certain grades in order to lock down any conditional offers they’ve received. But life can throw you curveballs, and some students may not get into the universities they had hoped, or may have decided university was the right path for them a little later - and with about 160-odd universities scattered all across the UK, it’s hard to know where to start when it comes to weighing your options.

While each university will have its own pros and cons to consider, making sure you have a good experience there and learn a lot shouldn’t be overlooked. Nor should getting good value for your money. Although the maximum fees university students have to pay can differ depending on where in the UK they live (with universities in Scotland even being free for Scottish students), the cost of tuition is set to rise for undergraduate students in England from the start of the 2025/26 academic year - their first increase since 2017.

To help get this process started, we’ve taken a look at The Guardian’s new university league table for the 2025 academic year, sorting universities exclusively by their student satisfaction with teaching scores. This is an aggregate score out of 100, based on final-year students’ responses in the national student survey to four questions; how good are teaching staff at explaining things, how often do teaching staff make the subject engaging, how often is the course intellectually stimulating, and how often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?

Their answers have been used to create a ‘satisfaction rate’ for each school, although it is worth noting that a few don’t have ratings in this measure specifically - which the paper says is likely due to no data being available.

Here were the 15 universities that came out on top:

Wrexham University is centred around Wrexham, in northeast Wales. The Guardian ranked it 111th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 90.1 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there.

5. Wrexham University

Wrexham University is centred around Wrexham, in northeast Wales. The Guardian ranked it 111th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 90.1 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there. | Google

This university can be found in Birmingham, in the West Midlands. The Guardian ranked it 71th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 90 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to their teaching - the last school on the list with a score over 90.

6. Birmingham Newman University

This university can be found in Birmingham, in the West Midlands. The Guardian ranked it 71th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 90 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to their teaching - the last school on the list with a score over 90. | Google

Trinity Saint David is centred around a few campuses in southwest Wales, although it also has facilities in other major centres like London and Cardiff. The Guardian ranked it 80th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 89.7 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there.

7. University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Trinity Saint David is centred around a few campuses in southwest Wales, although it also has facilities in other major centres like London and Cardiff. The Guardian ranked it 80th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 89.7 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there. | Google

This is a university based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The Guardian ranked it 105th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 89.4 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there.

8. Leeds Trinity University

This is a university based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The Guardian ranked it 105th overall in the UK. It was given a score of 89.4 out of 100 for student satisfaction, when it came to the teaching they had received there. | Jonathan Gawthorpe/National World

Previous
2 / 4
Next Page
Related topics:UniversitiesStudentsDataBoost
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice