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Imperial College London leads the 193 Public universities in the United Kingdom at #2 in the QS World University Rankings 2026. University of Oxford (QS World #4) and University of Cambridge (QS World #6) complete the top three. The universities on this list offer 2,221 matching courses between them.
193 universities · ranked best first
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54 of these universities hold a QS World position, from #2 (Imperial College London) to #662 (University of Portsmouth); they are listed first, in that order. The rest are ordered by research impact. University College London has the largest research record in this group, with 67,811,539 citations and an h-index of 2,079. 48 universities have neither a QS position nor a research record yet and appear at the end, marked "Not yet ranked".
The split is 193 public to 0 private institutions. By location, England (5) and Scotland (1) account for the most of those we can place. The oldest is University of Oxford, founded in 1096. University College London is the largest, with 46,000 students.
By level: 1,389 bachelor's, 505 master's, 42 foundation and 30 professional. The most common subjects are Business & Management (299), Medicine & Health Sciences (254), Arts, Design & Architecture (209) and Social Sciences & Psychology (197). The usual length is 4 years and 3 years. 97% are full-time and 42 can be studied online. Start dates lean to Fall (92% of courses with a stated intake) and Spring (78% of courses with a stated intake). University of Manchester offers the widest choice, with 254 of these courses.
We hold indicative fees for 6 of these universities. University of Manchester is the least expensive at USD 34,000 a year and Imperial College London the most at USD 47,000; the middle of the range is about USD 43,000. Check each university's own fee page before you budget — figures change every year.
Imperial College London (QS World #2), University of Oxford (QS World #4) and University of Cambridge (QS World #6) lead this list. QS World positions come first; the rest are ranked by research impact.
Of those with published fees, University of Manchester is the least expensive at about USD 34,000 a year. Fees are indicative — confirm on the university's site.
193 public and 0 private universities are on this list.
Most listed courses run 4 years, with 3 years the next most common.
Fall is the main intake — 92% of courses with a stated start date begin then, and Spring is the second.
42 of these courses are listed as online.
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