The University of St Andrews is once again Scotland's top-ranked educational institution and sits in second place UK-wide.
This is according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, which named it the Scottish University of the Year.
The comprehensive overview of higher education in Britain makes use of the latest data published in the past two months.
The research revealed that nearly 87% of the university's graduates go into high-skilled jobs or further studies.
Last year's list saw St Andrews beat the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, something no university has achieved in the near 30-year history of the guide, or any other domestic UK university ranking.
The institution flipped its small-class teaching model to online delivery during the pandemic, registering only a slight decline in satisfaction rates across the annual National Student Survey, while other top universities saw these scores decline rapidly.
Elsewhere in the rankings, the University of Edinburgh came second (and 10th in the UK), followed by the University of Glasgow (14th overall).
Rounding out the Scottish top five are the University of Strathclyde, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Dundee.
Top universities in Scotland
Scotland rank |
University |
UK-wide rank |
Last year’s UK-wide rank |
2022 National Student Survey teaching quality (%) |
2022 National Student Survey student experience (%) |
Graduate prospects (% in high-skilled jobs or graduate-level study) |
Completion rate (%) |
1 |
University of St Andrews |
2 |
1 |
84 |
80.5 |
86.9 |
95.9 |
2 |
University of Edinburgh |
10 |
13 |
68.6 |
67 |
84.6 |
94.3 |
3 |
University of Glasgow |
14 |
12 |
73.3 |
71.7 |
81.4 |
89.9 |
4 |
University of Strathclyde |
18 |
17 |
76.7 |
75.1 |
83.8 |
91.1 |
5 |
University of Aberdeen |
19 |
20 |
79.4 |
78.6 |
79.9 |
89.9 |
6 |
University of Dundee |
32 |
35= |
74.5 |
70.1 |
82 |
89.4 |
7 |
University of Stirling |
38= |
41 |
76.2 |
72.8 |
73.7 |
85.9 |
8 |
Glasgow Caledonian University |
52 |
60 |
75.1 |
72.2 |
78.6 |
86.4 |
9 |
Heriot-Watt University |
57= |
30= |
66.5 |
66.7 |
79.3 |
86 |
10 |
Edinburgh Napier University |
59 |
57 |
77.3 |
74.4 |
77.7 |
82.7 |
11 |
Robert Gordon University |
65 |
62= |
81.2 |
76 |
77.6 |
85.2 |
12 |
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh |
67 |
66 |
76.8 |
73.1 |
68.3 |
83.7 |
13 |
Abertay University |
89= |
94= |
78.7 |
73.2 |
70.5 |
76.3 |
14 |
University of the West of Scotland |
122= |
110= |
74.9 |
67 |
70.7 |
78.3 |
The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide is made up of eight indicators, including student satisfaction with teaching quality and their wider student experience, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios and degree completion rates.
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