Sunday Times Good University Guide: Four Leeds universities named among top in North as city dominates list

It is the definitive guide to the country’s universities, which are ranked on various factors including graduate employment and teaching quality.

Released today, the list includes four Leeds universities in the top 16 in the North and North East.

They are the University of Leeds, which takes the fourth spot in the North and North East list, and 24th spot nationally; the Leeds Arts University, which comes in at 11th place in the North and North East, and 89th nationally; Leeds Trinity University which ranked 12th in the North and North East, and 92nd nationally; and Leeds Beckett University, which was rated 14th in the North and North East and 101st nationally.

The top university in the region is Durham University, which was rated 4th nationally.

New to this year’s Good University online guide is a searchable database of graduate salaries per university and per subject. The top degree is computer studies at Imperial College where the average salary within 15 months of graduating is £64,000, and in second place, business, management and marketing from Oxford where graduates can expect to take home £58,000.

It says that students who finish drama, dance and cinematics at the University of Central Lancashire will be earning an average salary of £18,000 within 18 months of leaving university.

Helen Davies, editor of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “The higher education landscape has never been tougher. It is more competitive to get a place at many of our top institutions; the cost of attending university has soared, leaving graduates with extraordinary debt; and in many cases campus life still bears the scars of the pandemic. Meanwhile lecturers are on strike and the marking crisis is a running scandal.

“It means any prospective student, parent or carer needs to think hard about whether university is the right choice, and then where to study and what subject. It’s where this guide — our 30th edition — is here to help. Our online version has so much more on how the universities compare subject by subject, a guide on campus life, and what scholarships and bursaries may be on offer.“We are here to champion the ambitious work of our first-class universities, and the aspirations of any student of any age who wants to keep on learning.”