Explore the top universities in the UK for arts and humanities 2026

Best universities in the UK for arts and humanities degrees 2026

Discover the ߣߣ��Ƶ (THE) rankings for the best schools for arts and humanities in the UK 2026.
This list of universities reveals the top-ranked 84 institutions for arts and humanities including languages, literature and linguistics; history; philosophy; theology; architecture; archaeology; and art, performing arts and design, offering prospective students insights into the highest-ranking universities in the field.
Universities across the UK are evaluated based on teaching, research, and international outlook.
THE’s respected rankings use a robust methodology, created by the in-house data team, relied upon by students, academics, policymakers and industry leaders worldwide.

April 22 2026

Top universities in the UK for arts and humanities degrees

UK Arts and Humanities Rank 2026	Global Arts and Humanities Rank 2026	University	Overall	Teaching	Research Environment	Research Quality	Industry	International Outlook
1	3	University of Cambridge	91.3	94.2	98.1	74.1	88	79.1
2	4	University of Oxford	90.9	93.8	97.9	77.4	68.9	77.4
3	8	UCL	87.3	84.5	90.8	85.7	69.7	94.6
4	11	University of Edinburgh	84.3	85.1	88	74.7	67.6	87.6
5	24	King’s College London	74.3	73.5	74.1	75.7	67.4	79.4
6	35	University of St Andrews	68.9	70.2	65.9	75.2	47.3	73.4
7	38	London School of Economics and Political Science	66.9	62.4	63.7	86.6	22.7	83.6
8	41	University of Manchester	66.3	59.9	64	76.5	81.5	82.4
9	50	Durham University	63.5	60.4	62.9	69.9	54.3	73.4
10	60	University of Glasgow	61.2	57.3	56	76.4	57.3	77.2
11	61	Lancaster University	60.7	51.9	57.2	80.4	64.8	80.1
12	62	University of York	60.4	54.7	53.1	80.6	67.9	81.2
13	=63	University of Leeds	59.3	54.4	55.2	70.4	68.9	77.5
14	=69	University of Sheffield	57.9	54.1	45	82.9	68.6	85.8
15	72	University of Warwick	57.7	54.8	50.6	73.5	57.9	75.4
16	73	University of Bristol	56.8	49.2	50.8	83.9	64.7	67.6
17	=84	SOAS University of London	54.9	53.4	52.1	61.4	28.8	73.7
18	86	University of Birmingham	54.7	48.9	48.9	72.1	62.2	75.2
19	95	University of Exeter	53	44.7	46.9	80.9	31.5	77.8
20	=97	Queen Mary University of London	52.3	40.4	49.6	72.9	67.6	77.4
21	100	Birkbeck, University of London	51.9	45.9	38.1	84.7	66.6	79.5
=22	101–125	Newcastle University	47.9–51.7	42.1	38.9	77.8	64	81.8
=22	101–125	University of Reading	47.9–51.7	45.1	33.4	81.1	48.8	81.9
=24	126–150	Cardiff University	44.9–47.7	36.8	36.5	70	67.6	70
=24	126–150	University of Liverpool	44.9–47.7	38.9	37.6	75.2	64.4	77
=24	126–150	University of Nottingham	44.9–47.7	39.7	35.1	73	65.1	68
=27	151–175	Goldsmiths, University of London	43.2–44.8	36.2	33.4	69.8	56.8	75.9
=27	151–175	Queen’s University Belfast	43.2–44.8	33.8	28.8	85.4	52	87.9
=27	151–175	University of Aberdeen	43.2–44.8	38.3	30.5	64.7	67.6	81.4
=27	151–175	University of Leicester	43.2–44.8	38.1	30	69.2	97.6	66.8
31	176–200	University of Southampton	41.0–43.1	30.7	25.7	83	68.1	85.4
=32	201–250	Loughborough University	37.8–40.8	28.6	25.4	75.7	66.5	83.1
=32	201–250	Royal Holloway, University of London	37.8–40.8	28.2	27.8	64.8	63	71.7
=32	201–250	University of Bath	37.8–40.8	24.7	18.4	92.6	64.3	92.3
=32	201–250	University of East Anglia	37.8–40.8	31.6	24.4	70.6	67.3	71.2
=32	201–250	University of Surrey	37.8–40.8	26	21.8	79.6	67.1	84.1
=32	201–250	University of Sussex	37.8–40.8	30.7	26.8	77.3	67.1	70.1
38	251–300	University of Essex	35.4–37.7	27.8	18.6	79.1	67.5	86.2
=39	301–400	Aston University	31.0–35.3	24	15.9	73.7	60.2	94.4
=39	301–400	Bangor University	31.0–35.3	24.2	16.9	60.5	67.1	77.6
=39	301–400	Bournemouth University	31.0–35.3	17.3	17.8	75.7	58.2	81.7
=39	301–400	Brunel University of London	31.0–35.3	19.8	15.7	80.6	67.5	82.6
=39	301–400	Heriot-Watt University	31.0–35.3	22.3	15.4	70.4	76.3	96.8
=39	301–400	Northumbria University	31.0–35.3	25.2	15.9	68.9	40.4	75.1
=39	301–400	Oxford Brookes University	31.0–35.3	31.5	23.3	51.4	21.1	75.9
=39	301–400	Swansea University	31.0–35.3	25.1	17.1	78.1	59	75
=39	301–400	University of Kent	31.0–35.3	29.6	17.4	67.1	54.8	74.8
=39	301–400	University of Roehampton	31.0–35.3	24.1	19.5	63.5	37.1	69.1
=39	301–400	University of Stirling	31.0–35.3	21.2	18.6	70.5	44.9	77.7
=39	301–400	University of Strathclyde	31.0–35.3	20.4	18.2	72.7	61.2	76.1
=39	301–400	University of the Arts London	31.0–35.3	37.1	25.4	30.9	17.6	67.5
=52	401–500	Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)	27.4–30.9	21.4	10.7	61.6	30.5	84
=52	401–500	Coventry University	27.4–30.9	18.3	11.6	64.8	33.2	84
=52	401–500	Keele University	27.4–30.9	23.1	17	65.5	56.4	51.4
=52	401–500	Manchester Metropolitan University	27.4–30.9	20	15.6	66.2	35.8	56.3
=52	401–500	The Open University	27.4–30.9	20	13.5	69.9	59.7	52.7
=52	401–500	Ulster University	27.4–30.9	12.4	18.4	62.9	58.5	68.8
=52	401–500	University of Huddersfield	27.4–30.9	22.2	16.1	66.3	30.3	71.2
=52	401–500	University of Hull	27.4–30.9	23.2	15.1	53.3	58	64.1
=52	401–500	University of Wolverhampton	27.4–30.9	18.7	12.4	69.9	67.1	73.6
=61	501–600	Aberystwyth University	24.6–27.3	16.7	14.4	55.6	28.5	68.4
=61	501–600	Birmingham City University	24.6–27.3	16.1	8.8	58.9	23.5	77.2
=61	501–600	De Montfort University	24.6–27.3	14.2	12.4	58	37.6	65.4
=61	501–600	Liverpool John Moores University	24.6–27.3	15.6	10.2	61.8	32.9	63
=61	501–600	Middlesex University	24.6–27.3	20.8	10.9	51.7	66	76.9
=61	501–600	Nottingham Trent University	24.6–27.3	19.5	9.6	58.7	25.4	67.8
=61	501–600	Sheffield Hallam University	24.6–27.3	14.7	12	66.8	35.5	55.7
=61	501–600	UWE Bristol (University of the West of England)	24.6–27.3	13.6	10.6	60.2	67.4	68.6
=61	501–600	University of Brighton	24.6–27.3	15.3	10.4	59	65.3	64.4
=61	501–600	University of Dundee	24.6–27.3	18.3	13.8	48.4	68.6	70.8
=61	501–600	University of Greenwich	24.6–27.3	13.5	12	66.7	18.3	81.2
=61	501–600	University of Hertfordshire	24.6–27.3	14.6	8.4	60.6	60.1	73.3
=61	501–600	University of Plymouth	24.6–27.3	17.7	9.8	57.1	23.3	76.5
=61	501–600	University of Portsmouth	24.6–27.3	14.5	8.9	61.5	35.9	86.6
=61	501–600	University of Westminster	24.6–27.3	18.5	11	58.9	21	72.3
=76	601–800	Edge Hill University	16.8–24.5	13.7	10.4	54.8	34.2	44.1
=76	601–800	Edinburgh Napier University	16.8–24.5	14	9.9	50.7	32.2	78.1
=76	601–800	Kingston University	16.8–24.5	17.7	10.6	46.2	25.9	69.9
=76	601–800	Leeds Beckett University	16.8–24.5	16	9	64.4	30.3	52.8
=76	601–800	University of Lancashire	16.8–24.5	11.6	9.5	52.6	47.5	81.4
=76	601–800	University of Lincoln	16.8–24.5	14.6	11.4	54.9	28.9	55.2
=76	601–800	University of Salford	16.8–24.5	14.3	10.9	54.2	66.5	63.1
=76	601–800	University of Winchester	16.8–24.5	13.4	11.4	48.9	17.5	47.7
=76	601–800	York St John University	16.8–24.5	11.8	9.2	65.3	17.8	37.3

Key Insights into the top universities for arts and humanities degrees in the UK 2026

The University of Cambridge is the top university in the UK for arts and humanities programmes. The institution achieves a high score for research environment.
In second place, the University of Oxford has high scores for teaching and research environment.
UCL takes the third place, scoring particularly well for international outlook.
The 2026 arts and humanities ranking ranks universities in subject such as languages, literature and linguistics; history; philosophy; theology; architecture; archaeology; and art, performing arts and design.

Choosing a university for arts and humanities

Arts and humanities subjects include history, English literature, philosophy, languages and architecture.

Students who study the arts and humanities develop transferable skills such as the ability to think critically, analyse new information and communicate findings effectively. These can be applied to a range of careers, whether that’s in politics or education, law or the creative industry.

Choosing where to study the arts and humanities in the United Kingdom requires considering a range of factors including teaching and research. These rankings provide critical insights based on:

Research environment – focuses on research reputation and productivity
Teaching quality – the student learning experience and faculty strength
Research quality – influence and innovation in the engineering field
Industry collaboration – how institutions work with businesses and apply practical knowledge
International outlook – global diversity of students and faculty

The table for the best universities for arts and humanities in the UK was derived from data collected for the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2026: Arts and Humanities. The results are calculated using 18 performance indicators underlying five metrics. For more insights and a detailed breakdown of our ranking methodology, visit our methodology page. Use the ranking table above to explore the right institution for you.

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Best universities in the UK for arts and humanities degrees 2026

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Top universities in the UK for arts and humanities degrees

Key Insights into the top universities for arts and humanities degrees in the UK 2026

Choosing a university for arts and humanities

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