Best universities for psychology in the UK 2026

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 2026: Psychology, released in January 2026.
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.

March 10 2026

Top universities in the UK for psychology 2026

UK Psychology Rank 2026	Global Psychology Rank 2026	University	Overall	Teaching	Research Environment	Research Quality	Industry	International Outlook
1	1	University of Cambridge	93.9	96.2	99.9	87.6	92.6	95.1
2	6	UCL	87.8	91	95.6	80.2	71	93.2
3	9	King’s College London	83.9	86.4	85.5	76.5	100	95.3
4	23	University of Edinburgh	75.5	76.1	73.5	73.1	73	93
5	41	University of Glasgow	68.9	64.2	57.5	76.3	70.6	90.8
6	49	University of Bristol	67.6	49.5	56.2	85	69.6	89.5
7	=50	London School of Economics and Political Science	67.5	57.7	54.5	81.8	40.1	95.4
8	61	University of Sussex	64.9	48.6	52.6	81.1	69.5	87.7
9	68	University of Birmingham	63.7	57.5	52	71.9	68.2	86
10	=77	University of York	61	49.9	51.7	73.5	66.9	72.2
=11	=80	Cardiff University	60.3	52.2	48.2	69.7	76.1	79
=11	=80	University of Bath	60.3	51.1	39	78.2	55.7	87.7
13	87	University of Exeter	59.5	46	34.4	85.5	49.4	80.5
14	88	University of Sheffield	59.2	43.7	40.7	81	71.4	71.7
15	90	University of Warwick	58.6	45.6	44.6	72.3	53.8	92.5
16	91	Birkbeck, University of London	57.9	42.2	47.8	69.8	67.1	88.7
17	92	University of Kent	57.7	31.9	33.5	88.3	61.7	89.5
18	=98	University of Nottingham	57.1	43.5	38.3	73.4	75.6	85.9
=19	101–125	University of Essex	55.3–56.9	44.8	28.5	78.5	53.3	90.7
=19	101–125	University of Leeds	55.3–56.9	40.1	36.6	78.1	73.3	79.7
=19	101–125	University of Manchester	55.3–56.9	43.3	42.2	73.3	74.9	70.3
=19	101–125	University of Southampton	55.3–56.9	41	28.1	82.6	67.2	90
=19	101–125	University of St Andrews	55.3–56.9	47.8	36.5	67.8	71.6	93.8
=24	126–150	Durham University	52.6–55.2	38.4	32.3	75.6	63.9	91.9
=24	126–150	Goldsmiths, University of London	52.6–55.2	38.8	26.8	78.9	64	88.2
=24	126–150	Lancaster University	52.6–55.2	38.8	37.7	70.5	53.5	84.5
=24	126–150	Royal Holloway, University of London	52.6–55.2	43.9	28.5	69.2	61.4	87
=28	151–175	Loughborough University	49.7–52.1	39.1	38.3	67.2	38.6	76.7
=28	151–175	University of Reading	49.7–52.1	25.4	17.4	83.4	67.1	83.6
=28	151–175	University of Surrey	49.7–52.1	39	26	70.9	66.7	79.8
=31	201–250	Aston University	45.3–48.3	15.7	15.1	83.3	79.3	70.2
=31	201–250	City St George's, University of London	45.3–48.3	31.7	25.4	66.1	64.8	89.5
=31	201–250	Newcastle University	45.3–48.3	31.4	29.1	66.7	68.1	72.3
=31	201–250	Nottingham Trent University	45.3–48.3	23.9	22.2	78	26	86.4
=31	201–250	Queen’s University Belfast	45.3–48.3	27.7	27.9	68.3	55.4	94.5
=31	201–250	Swansea University	45.3–48.3	20.1	18.3	80.1	66.3	76.8
=31	201–250	UWE Bristol (University of the West of England)	45.3–48.3	22.2	11.8	83.8	74	73.7
=31	201–250	University of Aberdeen	45.3–48.3	31.1	26.1	63.1	67.1	92.8
=31	201–250	University of Liverpool	45.3–48.3	29.1	26.3	72.5	64.4	70.6
=31	201–250	University of Portsmouth	45.3–48.3	21.1	23.4	72.1	49.1	88.9
=41	251–300	Brunel University of London	42.8–45.2	20.6	18.5	71.4	54.5	94.2
=41	251–300	Oxford Brookes University	42.8–45.2	23.2	24.1	66.6	26.5	79
=41	251–300	University of Hertfordshire	42.8–45.2	25.4	14.4	69.5	59.3	76.1
=41	251–300	University of Leicester	42.8–45.2	22.4	13.6	75.2	50.3	84.1
=45	301–400	Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)	38.3–42.6	16.7	15	69.3	28.1	90.2
=45	301–400	Bangor University	38.3–42.6	28.4	18.5	48.7	67.3	85.4
=45	301–400	Edinburgh Napier University	38.3–42.6	16	13	73.7	22.7	79.5
=45	301–400	Heriot-Watt University	38.3–42.6	18.5	10.5	73.6	44.9	90.6
=45	301–400	Kingston University	38.3–42.6	17.5	13.4	65.8	63.4	91.7
=45	301–400	Liverpool John Moores University	38.3–42.6	19.1	17.5	60.8	62.7	64.6
=45	301–400	London South Bank University	38.3–42.6	18.1	12.8	64.5	17.4	93.6
=45	301–400	Manchester Metropolitan University	38.3–42.6	22.5	14.3	64.3	33.7	65.4
=45	301–400	Middlesex University	38.3–42.6	27.5	17.1	63.5	31.8	80.9
=45	301–400	Northumbria University	38.3–42.6	14.6	17.6	67.8	70.8	75.1
=45	301–400	Ulster University	38.3–42.6	16.9	17.8	66.3	42.5	79.2
=45	301–400	University of Brighton	38.3–42.6	14.3	18.2	63.5	66.8	75.2
=45	301–400	University of Derby	38.3–42.6	22.7	14.4	69.1	34.3	62.5
=45	301–400	University of Dundee	38.3–42.6	19.6	15.9	57.9	60.6	88.4
=45	301–400	University of East Anglia	38.3–42.6	28.2	16.9	63.7	26.5	80.4
=45	301–400	University of Greenwich	38.3–42.6	14.2	9.1	68.5	28.9	92.8
=45	301–400	University of Stirling	38.3–42.6	22.6	19.2	62.2	50.3	88.6
=45	301–400	University of Strathclyde	38.3–42.6	21.3	19.5	63.6	46.2	72
=63	401–500	Bournemouth University	33.6–38.2	13.9	11.7	62.1	34.9	83.4
=63	401–500	Coventry University	33.6–38.2	19.5	10.7	61	28.3	85.6
=63	401–500	De Montfort University	33.6–38.2	14.8	9.2	57.9	32.6	89.7
=63	401–500	Glasgow Caledonian University	33.6–38.2	18.3	11.7	52.6	56.4	67.6
=63	401–500	Keele University	33.6–38.2	17.2	11.2	56.9	56.2	70
=63	401–500	Leeds Beckett University	33.6–38.2	17.5	10.7	63.3	21.3	58.1
=63	401–500	Teesside University	33.6–38.2	25.5	9.1	63.3	17.4	67.9
=63	401–500	University of East London	33.6–38.2	29.3	12.8	53.4	45.5	80
=63	401–500	University of Huddersfield	33.6–38.2	19.6	11	68.1	29.8	63.3
=63	401–500	University of Lincoln	33.6–38.2	20.1	13.7	61.6	37.3	69.9
=63	401–500	University of Plymouth	33.6–38.2	25.9	14.9	51	61.1	82.3
=63	401–500	University of Roehampton	33.6–38.2	17.9	10.2	52.9	44.7	82.9
=63	401–500	University of Westminster	33.6–38.2	13.3	9.3	54.9	69.4	78
=63	401–500	University of Winchester	33.6–38.2	12	8.8	66.2	22.5	67.8
=63	401–500	York St John University	33.6–38.2	18.1	12.9	68.5	17.4	54.6
=78	501–600	Canterbury Christ Church University	28.2–33.5	24.9	8	44.9	33.4	60.7
=78	501–600	Cardiff Metropolitan University	28.2–33.5	14.3	11.7	48.5	27.4	63.9
=78	501–600	Edge Hill University	28.2–33.5	15.3	10.4	54.6	24.9	63.4
=78	501–600	Liverpool Hope University	28.2–33.5	14.4	9.7	53.7	21.9	81
=78	501–600	Sheffield Hallam University	28.2–33.5	12.1	9.4	53.2	37.9	65.8
=78	501–600	The Open University	28.2–33.5	16.7	9.5	47.1	28.3	55
=78	501–600	University of Hull	28.2–33.5	24.5	11.7	45.3	56.1	73.4
=78	501–600	University of Lancashire	28.2–33.5	12.8	12.7	55.2	46.8	65.6
=78	501–600	University of Salford	28.2–33.5	13.6	10.4	46.6	33.5	61
=78	501–600	University of Wolverhampton	28.2–33.5	20	9.8	45.6	22.5	64.5
=88	601+	Birmingham City University	15.4–28.1	11.9	8.3	46.6	20.3	73.6
=88	601+	University of Chester	15.4–28.1	12.8	8.2	33.4	31.6	54.6
=88	601+	University of South Wales	15.4–28.1	21.4	12.1	37.1	17.4	50.7
=88	601+	University of Staffordshire	15.4–28.1	24.9	7.8	35.5	17.4	43.3
=88	601+	University of the West of Scotland	15.4–28.1	11.9	9.2	41.2	44.4	62.8

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 as well as the top university in the world for psychology.
Some 92 universities in the UK are featured in the table for the best universities for psychology in the UK.
Kings 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

In the UK, psychology is one of the most popular subjects for students to take at degree level. Often, psychology courses at UK universities are accredited and follow guidelines set out by the British Psychological Society, which is key for students who wish to pursue a career as a practising psychologist with chartered status.

Courses in psychology are wide-ranging and tend to focus on either scientific research or applied psychology. UK higher education institutions are often equipped with research facilities to conduct studies in either specialisation. Students can conduct research into perception, developmental psychology, cognition or behavioural neuroscience on the scientific side, or neuro-rehabilitation, education and health on the applied side.

There are no strict criteria for studying psychology in the UK, but it is important to have an analytical mind and an interest in human behaviour. Certain grades will be expected depending on the university, as well as a clear interest in the subject.

As for post-graduation prospects, psychology graduates are well equipped to join many industries given the course’s transferable skills.

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.

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