• Swindon & Wiltshire Education, training and skills
• Friday August 21 2026

University of Bristol climbs to sixth in national league table

The University of Bristol has been ranked the joint sixth best in the UK according to the latest Daily Mail University Guide

The placing is up from eighth in 2025 and 18th in 2024.

The university scored top in the country for research income, a high first year completion rate (2nd), research quality (4th), and sports (9th).

The Guide specifically praised Bristol’s efforts to make a Russell Group education as affordable as possible thanks to the range of bursaries available and its work to encourage applications from under-represented groups.

It also highlighted Bristol’s popularity with eight applications per place and a record 65,000 students naming Bristol as one of their five UCAS choices in 2025 thanks to Bristol graduates being ‘in demand’.

Graduates receive an average salary of £32,000 with the Guide affirming: “The latest High Fliers research for The Graduate Market in 2026 saw them rank as the sixth most in-demand among leading graduate employers, comfortably above Oxford and Cambridge.”

It also praised the upcoming Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, saying its opening next month ‘will only increase its visibility while also regenerating a whole district. The new teaching and research development will drive forward digital, business and social innovation’.

Subjects which ranked highly include:

Business (1st)
Italian Studies (1st)
French Studies (3rd)
German Studies (3rd)
Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering (5th)
Archaeology (5th)
Iberian Studies (5th)
Theology and Religious Studies (5th)

Professor Michele Acuto, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement, said: “To be ranked the joint 6th best university in the UK is a real testament to the quality of our teaching and research, which is helping our graduates thrive in their careers.

“It was particularly heartening to see the Guide praise our efforts to recruit students from a range of backgrounds and to support them financially during their studies.”