We've taken a look at the five best universities in the UK for postgraduate study according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023.
If you want to know how these universities compare in other university ranking tables, we have a table with the top 50 universities in the UK and their ranks according to three important international rankings.
#1 University of Oxford
Not only is the University of Oxford ranked first in the UK, it is also ranked first in the world! It is one of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world with eariest records dating back to 1096. Some of the university's emminent alumni include Stephen Hawking, Oscar Wilde and 28 British Prime Ministers. While the university is known for its excellence in the Sciences, Arts and Humanities courses at the University of Oxford are equally popular.
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#2 University of Cambridge
Second in the UK and third overall is the University of Cambridge. The university offers more than 300 postgraduate courses across 31 colleges and 150 faculties. The university is renowned for its excellence in Mathematics and has produced famous mathematicians like Alan Turing and Charles Babbage. In total, 121 Nobel laureates are affiliated with the University of Cambridge! At Cambridge you can study a course with both taught or research elements depending on your interests.
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#3 Imperial College London
Next on the list is Imperial College London. It has a campus in the heart of London and is popular with students wanting to study STEM and Business-related subjects. It has taught the likes of Sir Alexander Fleming who is credited with discovering penicillin. Some of the university's other notable alumni include science fiction author H.G Wells and rock band Queen's lead guitarist Brian May.
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#4 UCL
UCL is the fourth best university in the UK. It has advocated inclusivity since being the first university in England to admit women on equal terms as men in the 1870s. Today, almost half of all students at UCL are international. With 11 faculties, there is a postgraduate couse for everyone no matter what you wish to study. UCL has been the birthplace of many scientific dicoveries such as the noble gases discovered by chemist William Ramsay and the telephone discovered by Alexander Graham Bell.
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#5 University of Edinburgh
The only Scottish university in the top five universities in the UK, the University of Edinburgh is also one of Britain and Ireland's seven anceint universities. The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences college is the largest of the three colleges that make up the University of Edinburgh. Some notable alumni include Charles Darwin and Robert Brown, among many others. In your time at university, you can also discover of the historical city of Edinburgh!
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