Top 5 Universities in UK

Universities in the UK are amongst the world's best, with very high ranking positions in Europe and in the world. Here we will look at some of the very best UK institutions that are consistently ranked among the Top 5 in the UK:

National Rankings:
In the UK there are some university league tables published by the well-known university guide such as the follows:
(1) Guardian University Guide
- The top 5 instituions in 2010 are (in the ranking order): Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Warwick, and LSE.

(2) Times Good University Guide
- Oxford tops the list of 114 institutions in the 2010 league table, ahead of Cambridge (2nd), Imperial College (3rd), St Andrews (4th) and University College London (5th).

(3) Independent Complete University Guide
- Oxford is the No. 1 university, followed by Cambridge (2nd), Imperial (3rd), LSE (4th) and Durham (5th).

International Rankings:
Accordign to the THES 2008 World Top 200 University Ranking, the top 5 UK institutions are:

National Rank, Name, (World Rank)
  1. Cambridge (3rd)
  2. Oxford (4th)
  3. Imperial (6th)
  4. UCL (7th)
  5. King's College London (22nd)
According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2008, the Top 5 UK universities are as follows:

National Rank, Name, (World Rank)
  1. Cambridge (4th)
  2. Oxford (10th)
  3. UCL (22nd)
  4. Imperial (27th)
  5. Manchester (40th)
Ranking Analysis:
- Oxbridge is the best! Both Oxford and Cambridge are consistently ranked in the Top 2 nationally and internationally. Oxford is mainly the No. 1 university in a number of National League Tables, while Cambridge is rated No. 1 in international rankings.
- UCL and Imperial are among the top 4 in the nation, according to the THES and ARWU, and also in The Independent.
- St Andrews is the highest ranked institution in Scotland, rated No. 3 in Guardian and No. 4 in The Times.
- LSE is another top specialist constituent college of the University of London, ranked in the top five in The Independent and Guardian.

Next Post: Top Ten Universities in UK

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Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is an experienced writer specializing in education-related topics, with a strong background in teaching and training. He has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in education and creates practical, easy-to-understand articles that help educators, students, and professionals improve their skills and knowledge. Check out his profile on: LinkedIn.