Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)

[Anonymous]

No change in the TOP 4.
Exeter and Durham keep moving up

[Anonymous]

For those interested in Business degrees (Business Mgmt, Management, etc) the brand new 2026 rankings are here:

1) University of Oxford
2) University of St Andrews
3) University of Bath
4) University of Warwick
5) London School of Economics and Poli...
6) King's College
7) UCL (University College London)
8) The University of Edinburgh
9) University of Exeter
10) University of Bristol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those interested in Business degrees (Business Mgmt, Management, etc) the brand new 2026 rankings are here:

1) University of Oxford
2) University of St Andrews
3) University of Bath
4) University of Warwick
5) London School of Economics and Poli...
6) King's College
7) UCL (University College London)
8) The University of Edinburgh
9) University of Exeter
10) University of Bristol

We live in London and have been keeping an eye on the uni rankings for Business Management for our 16-year-old. Some of the unis have really moved up in the last few years. Exeter, Bristol and Bath are definitely heading in the right direction. Edinburgh always seems to be in the top 10, and Warwick is pretty much always in the top 5.

King’s used to be quite popular in our circles, but lately it’s lost a bit of its shine. A lot of my friends feel like they’re mainly focused on international students now. The percentage is so high that it’s hard not to feel like local students are being overlooked. It seems like the uni is chasing the overseas fees more than anything.

Among our friends in London, mostly families with kids at independent / boarding schools, the general view is that if Oxbridge doesn’t work out, then St Andrews is the next best option. That’s definitely a shift from when we were growing up. No one really thought about sending their kids to Scotland back then. But now St Andrews is hugely popular, even though it’s become harder for English students to get in. The bar seems higher every year for English kids.

Not many of us are encouraging our kids to stay in London. LSE and UCL are obviously great academically, but most parents I know would prefer their kids to move out and have the full uni experience. It’s hard to do that when you’re still living at home with Mum and Dad just around the corner.

So beyond Oxbridge and St Andrews, the names that come up most often are Bath, Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Warwick and Edinburgh. They’re all strong academically, offer a good student life, and feel a bit more realistic in terms of entry requirements vs Oxbridge and St Andrews.

I actually found this forum while looking into US universities. My son is considering applying over there too. The big issue is cost. Without a scholarship, it’s tough to justify. The numbers are just so high, even for great schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those interested in Business degrees (Business Mgmt, Management, etc) the brand new 2026 rankings are here:

1) University of Oxford
2) University of St Andrews
3) University of Bath
4) University of Warwick
5) London School of Economics and Poli...
6) King's College
7) UCL (University College London)
8) The University of Edinburgh
9) University of Exeter
10) University of Bristol

So much for American version of Tulane….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those interested in Business degrees (Business Mgmt, Management, etc) the brand new 2026 rankings are here:

1) University of Oxford
2) University of St Andrews
3) University of Bath
4) University of Warwick
5) London School of Economics and Poli...
6) King's College
7) UCL (University College London)
8) The University of Edinburgh
9) University of Exeter
10) University of Bristol

We live in London and have been keeping an eye on the uni rankings for Business Management for our 16-year-old. Some of the unis have really moved up in the last few years. Exeter, Bristol and Bath are definitely heading in the right direction. Edinburgh always seems to be in the top 10, and Warwick is pretty much always in the top 5.

King’s used to be quite popular in our circles, but lately it’s lost a bit of its shine. A lot of my friends feel like they’re mainly focused on international students now. The percentage is so high that it’s hard not to feel like local students are being overlooked. It seems like the uni is chasing the overseas fees more than anything.

Among our friends in London, mostly families with kids at independent / boarding schools, the general view is that if Oxbridge doesn’t work out, then St Andrews is the next best option. That’s definitely a shift from when we were growing up. No one really thought about sending their kids to Scotland back then. But now St Andrews is hugely popular, even though it’s become harder for English students to get in. The bar seems higher every year for English kids.

Not many of us are encouraging our kids to stay in London. LSE and UCL are obviously great academically, but most parents I know would prefer their kids to move out and have the full uni experience. It’s hard to do that when you’re still living at home with Mum and Dad just around the corner.

So beyond Oxbridge and St Andrews, the names that come up most often are Bath, Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Warwick and Edinburgh. They’re all strong academically, offer a good student life, and feel a bit more realistic in terms of entry requirements vs Oxbridge and St Andrews.

I actually found this forum while looking into US universities. My son is considering applying over there too. The big issue is cost. Without a scholarship, it’s tough to justify. The numbers are just so high, even for great schools.

Do you mean your American friends in London? Because this is not representative of most native Londoners at all. The big Oxbridge rejects go to Durham, Exeter, Bristol, York, Edinburgh and in London to Imperial, LSE and to a lesser extent UCL and Kings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those interested in Business degrees (Business Mgmt, Management, etc) the brand new 2026 rankings are here:

1) University of Oxford
2) University of St Andrews
3) University of Bath
4) University of Warwick
5) London School of Economics and Poli...
6) King's College
7) UCL (University College London)
8) The University of Edinburgh
9) University of Exeter
10) University of Bristol

We live in London and have been keeping an eye on the uni rankings for Business Management for our 16-year-old. Some of the unis have really moved up in the last few years. Exeter, Bristol and Bath are definitely heading in the right direction. Edinburgh always seems to be in the top 10, and Warwick is pretty much always in the top 5.

King’s used to be quite popular in our circles, but lately it’s lost a bit of its shine. A lot of my friends feel like they’re mainly focused on international students now. The percentage is so high that it’s hard not to feel like local students are being overlooked. It seems like the uni is chasing the overseas fees more than anything.

Among our friends in London, mostly families with kids at independent / boarding schools, the general view is that if Oxbridge doesn’t work out, then St Andrews is the next best option. That’s definitely a shift from when we were growing up. No one really thought about sending their kids to Scotland back then. But now St Andrews is hugely popular, even though it’s become harder for English students to get in. The bar seems higher every year for English kids.

Not many of us are encouraging our kids to stay in London. LSE and UCL are obviously great academically, but most parents I know would prefer their kids to move out and have the full uni experience. It’s hard to do that when you’re still living at home with Mum and Dad just around the corner.

So beyond Oxbridge and St Andrews, the names that come up most often are Bath, Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Warwick and Edinburgh. They’re all strong academically, offer a good student life, and feel a bit more realistic in terms of entry requirements vs Oxbridge and St Andrews.

I actually found this forum while looking into US universities. My son is considering applying over there too. The big issue is cost. Without a scholarship, it’s tough to justify. The numbers are just so high, even for great schools.

Do you mean your American friends in London? Because this is not representative of most native Londoners at all. The big Oxbridge rejects go to Durham, Exeter, Bristol, York, Edinburgh and in London to Imperial, LSE and to a lesser extent UCL and Kings.

No…. We are all in the financial and legal industries. None of us wanted our kids at London unis (UCL, LSE and Imperial). Not because they aren’t great unis, but because we wanted them out if London.

Yes, Durham definitely in the Mix, but over the last 10 years, St Andrews has shown up in the lists of most of the kids at our kids’ boarding schools as an alternative to Oxbridge, alongside Durham sure. The data is available for you at all top private/boarding schools. The 7 (couples) of us have the data for the 5 schools our kids attend (75% londoners families at these 5 schools). It is what it is.

Anecdotally, someone posted this elsewhere for this yr:

https://www.reddit.com/r/6thForm/s/u5ygGj8tSl

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

We are basically following the above, which we changed slightly for our Junior applying this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

How do UK private school kids view this decision table going the other way, to the US?

We met a few posh local parents while touring UK schools listed under 2-3. They were exasperated that their counselors were saying Ivies were unrealistic and they were disinterested in the US T20-50. Small sample.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

How do UK private school kids view this decision table going the other way, to the US?

We met a few posh local parents while touring UK schools listed under 2-3. They were exasperated that their counselors were saying Ivies were unrealistic and they were disinterested in the US T20-50. Small sample.

My son is still applying to Harvard/Princeton and Stanford. But if he gets in Oxford, it just does not make any sense for him to go to America and spend a fortune (even if we have the money) vs spending the equivalent of $37-38k for all 3 years of Tuition at Oxford. But my son’s boarding school counselor is telling everyone that for this upcoming cycle it might actually be easier for UK students to get acceptance to these US schools since they believe the number of Chinese and other Asian applicants to the US will decrease dramatically….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those interested in Business degrees (Business Mgmt, Management, etc) the brand new 2026 rankings are here:

1) University of Oxford
2) University of St Andrews
3) University of Bath
4) University of Warwick
5) London School of Economics and Poli...
6) King's College
7) UCL (University College London)
8) The University of Edinburgh
9) University of Exeter
10) University of Bristol

We live in London and have been keeping an eye on the uni rankings for Business Management for our 16-year-old. Some of the unis have really moved up in the last few years. Exeter, Bristol and Bath are definitely heading in the right direction. Edinburgh always seems to be in the top 10, and Warwick is pretty much always in the top 5.

King’s used to be quite popular in our circles, but lately it’s lost a bit of its shine. A lot of my friends feel like they’re mainly focused on international students now. The percentage is so high that it’s hard not to feel like local students are being overlooked. It seems like the uni is chasing the overseas fees more than anything.

Among our friends in London, mostly families with kids at independent / boarding schools, the general view is that if Oxbridge doesn’t work out, then St Andrews is the next best option. That’s definitely a shift from when we were growing up. No one really thought about sending their kids to Scotland back then. But now St Andrews is hugely popular, even though it’s become harder for English students to get in. The bar seems higher every year for English kids.

Not many of us are encouraging our kids to stay in London. LSE and UCL are obviously great academically, but most parents I know would prefer their kids to move out and have the full uni experience. It’s hard to do that when you’re still living at home with Mum and Dad just around the corner.

So beyond Oxbridge and St Andrews, the names that come up most often are Bath, Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Warwick and Edinburgh. They’re all strong academically, offer a good student life, and feel a bit more realistic in terms of entry requirements vs Oxbridge and St Andrews.

I actually found this forum while looking into US universities. My son is considering applying over there too. The big issue is cost. Without a scholarship, it’s tough to justify. The numbers are just so high, even for great schools.

Do you mean your American friends in London? Because this is not representative of most native Londoners at all. The big Oxbridge rejects go to Durham, Exeter, Bristol, York, Edinburgh and in London to Imperial, LSE and to a lesser extent UCL and Kings.

No…. We are all in the financial and legal industries. None of us wanted our kids at London unis (UCL, LSE and Imperial). Not because they aren’t great unis, but because we wanted them out if London.

Yes, Durham definitely in the Mix, but over the last 10 years, St Andrews has shown up in the lists of most of the kids at our kids’ boarding schools as an alternative to Oxbridge, alongside Durham sure. The data is available for you at all top private/boarding schools. The 7 (couples) of us have the data for the 5 schools our kids attend (75% londoners families at these 5 schools). It is what it is.

Anecdotally, someone posted this elsewhere for this yr:

https://www.reddit.com/r/6thForm/s/u5ygGj8tSl

Same with us. When my daughter was trying to decide where to go, staying in London was the last thing in her mind. Yes, she loves London. But it is home. She wanted to go away. She was not accepted at Cambridge, but was accepted to both Durham and St Andrews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

How do UK private school kids view this decision table going the other way, to the US?

We met a few posh local parents while touring UK schools listed under 2-3. They were exasperated that their counselors were saying Ivies were unrealistic and they were disinterested in the US T20-50. Small sample.

My son is still applying to Harvard/Princeton and Stanford. But if he gets in Oxford, it just does not make any sense for him to go to America and spend a fortune (even if we have the money) vs spending the equivalent of $37-38k for all 3 years of Tuition at Oxford. But my son’s boarding school counselor is telling everyone that for this upcoming cycle it might actually be easier for UK students to get acceptance to these US schools since they believe the number of Chinese and other Asian applicants to the US will decrease dramatically….

Be careful. Oxford has put up their international fees, some courses are in the UK pound sterling 70s per year which is $90k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

How do UK private school kids view this decision table going the other way, to the US?

We met a few posh local parents while touring UK schools listed under 2-3. They were exasperated that their counselors were saying Ivies were unrealistic and they were disinterested in the US T20-50. Small sample.

My son is still applying to Harvard/Princeton and Stanford. But if he gets in Oxford, it just does not make any sense for him to go to America and spend a fortune (even if we have the money) vs spending the equivalent of $37-38k for all 3 years of Tuition at Oxford. But my son’s boarding school counselor is telling everyone that for this upcoming cycle it might actually be easier for UK students to get acceptance to these US schools since they believe the number of Chinese and other Asian applicants to the US will decrease dramatically….

Be careful. Oxford has put up their international fees, some courses are in the UK pound sterling 70s per year which is $90k

39 to 59k pounds. Most of the courses are 39 pounds…medicine is much higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

How do UK private school kids view this decision table going the other way, to the US?

We met a few posh local parents while touring UK schools listed under 2-3. They were exasperated that their counselors were saying Ivies were unrealistic and they were disinterested in the US T20-50. Small sample.

My son is still applying to Harvard/Princeton and Stanford. But if he gets in Oxford, it just does not make any sense for him to go to America and spend a fortune (even if we have the money) vs spending the equivalent of $37-38k for all 3 years of Tuition at Oxford. But my son’s boarding school counselor is telling everyone that for this upcoming cycle it might actually be easier for UK students to get acceptance to these US schools since they believe the number of Chinese and other Asian applicants to the US will decrease dramatically….

Be careful. Oxford has put up their international fees, some courses are in the UK pound sterling 70s per year which is $90k

39 to 59k pounds. Most of the courses are 39 pounds…medicine is much higher.

That's the one. I think its 78K for medicine now at Oxford, which is almost $105k / yr just for tuition. Add in college fees / accommodation and you're not saving anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL/St Andrews/Edinburgh - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL/St Andrews
4. King’s/Durham - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Durham
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

How do UK private school kids view this decision table going the other way, to the US?

We met a few posh local parents while touring UK schools listed under 2-3. They were exasperated that their counselors were saying Ivies were unrealistic and they were disinterested in the US T20-50. Small sample.

My son is still applying to Harvard/Princeton and Stanford. But if he gets in Oxford, it just does not make any sense for him to go to America and spend a fortune (even if we have the money) vs spending the equivalent of $37-38k for all 3 years of Tuition at Oxford. But my son’s boarding school counselor is telling everyone that for this upcoming cycle it might actually be easier for UK students to get acceptance to these US schools since they believe the number of Chinese and other Asian applicants to the US will decrease dramatically….

Be careful. Oxford has put up their international fees, some courses are in the UK pound sterling 70s per year which is $90k

39 to 59k pounds. Most of the courses are 39 pounds…medicine is much higher.

That's the one. I think its 78K for medicine now at Oxford, which is almost $105k / yr just for tuition. Add in college fees / accommodation and you're not saving anything

But why in the world would an American compare the Medicine course at Oxford to US undergraduate education? It is apples and oranges….Someone posted earlier there not one person admitted to their medical school from the US last year. Most Americans are not going to the UK to go to their undergrad medical school.

The ones going to the UK are studying History, English, Econ, Business/Mgmt, Finance, CS, Engineering, etc. NOT medicine.

[Anonymous]

What’s the pull for UK students to come stateside vs. attending the Top 5/6 UK unis? Employment, brand?

Is the line generally drawn at HYPSM?

Is it a fairly common aspiration to want to attend a US uni, or is it more equivalent to the growing, but niche, US interest in UK schools?