Yorkshire’s cities are home to some popular and prestigious universities, which attract enthusiastic scholars from all over the country.
The Guardian’s latest university guide for the 2026 academic year went live over the weekend. This annual league table compares and ranks more than 120 universities from across the UK, giving them scores out of 100. It uses a comprehensive methodology, which factors in the latest data on student satisfaction, staff numbers, spending, future career prospects for graduates, and more.
We’ve picked out universities from across Yorkshire to see how they did in the latest guide. As well as their overall scores, we have added a few key details likely to be important to sixth form students considering studying there - including a score representing how satisfied final year students were with their teaching, and the proportion of recent graduates either employed in a graduate-level job or undertaking further study 15 months after their course finished.
But The Guardian warns that prospective students should take the results with a grain of salt. “Rankings change annually, and some universities may benefit from temporary measures such as funding boosts or changes to their student intake. Don’t forget that universities languishing at the bottom of the overall table can be top for certain subjects,” its creators wrote. Some universities have also not been included, where data was not available.
Here were the 10 Yorkshire universities on this year’s list, and how they did overall:
9. Leeds Beckett University
This is yet another Leeds-based institution. It ranked 101st overall this year, up from 102nd last year. The Guardian gave it an overall score of 44.4 out of 100. It had a rating of 85.8 for students satisfied with their teaching, and 76% of recent graduates were either employed or in further study after 15 months. | Google
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10. York St John University
Back up to North Yorkshire, York-based St John rounds out the region’s institutions included in this year’s ranking. It came in 115th overall this year, down from 96th last year. The Guardian gave it an overall score of 39.7 out of 100. It had a rating of 87.4 for students satisfied with their teaching, and 72% of recent graduates were either employed or in further study after 15 months. | Google