Aberdeen rises to highest ever position in Guardian University Guide

The University of Aberdeen has risen to its highest ever position in the Guardian University Guide coming in 12th place in the UK overall and top in the UK for Medicine.

Aberdeen’s strong performance – a rise of one place in the UK – improves its position in Scotland from fourth in 2023 to second in 2024.

In the UK rankings, the University has risen 39 places since the 2019 edition of the Guide.

Aberdeen ranked in the UK’s top 10 for 10 of its 27 subject areas, and in the top 20 for a further nine subjects. 

The University was top in the UK on the ‘Value Added’ measure which compares students’ degree results with their entry qualifications to show how effectively they are taught, 4^th in the UK for the ‘Satisfied with Teaching’ metric and 9^th in the UK for ‘Average Entry Tariff’ which looks at UCAS scores of entrants.

Subjects ranking in the top 10 include:

Medicine – 1^st

Anthropology and Archaeology – 4^th

Physics – 6^th

Accounting and Finance – 7^th

International Relations – 7^th

Philosophy – 7^th

Pharmacy and Pharmacology – 8^th

Politics – 9^th

Sports Science – 9^th

Chemical Engineering – 10^th

University of Aberdeen Senior Vice-Principal, Professor Karl Leydecker, said: “The University of Aberdeen continues to make impressive progress in the Guardian University Guide, achieving its highest ever position.

“This follows a substantial rise in last year’s table so we are delighted to see that the 2024 Guide reflects further progress at the University.

“Student experience is at the heart of everything we do and we are continually striving to further improve this, so it is particularly pleasing to achieve such a high position in a league table focused on teaching and student-facing metrics.”