PsyToolkit’s Ranking of UK Psychology Departments for Students (PUPS)

A different kind of university ranking

Most university rankings combine many different indicators or mix together students from different types of courses. The PsyToolkit ranking focuses directly on the experience of the main group of psychology students: full-time undergraduates studying psychology as their first degree on a generic BSc (Hons) programme.

It provides a particularly broad and stable picture of student experience by combining scores from all 26 National Student Survey questions across three consecutive years. This reduces the influence of a single unusually good or poor result and captures everything from teaching and feedback to organisation, learning resources and student support.

The results also challenge familiar assumptions about where the best student experience is found. More than half of the top ten are relatively small universities, and several have a religious foundation or ethos. This suggests that students may particularly value the personal contact, sense of community and individual attention that smaller psychology programmes can provide and which may be harder to achieve in much larger departments.

Video about this ranking

What is unique about this ranking

We focus on data from full-time undergraduate students with psychology as a first degree. This makes that scores are not influenced by students who do not focus on psychology as their main activity.
We take an overall average over 26 questions to get an overall impression.
We take data of three years into account such that some random variation is less likely to influence ranking.
For the final score and ranking, we weigh the poorest scores of departments. This makes it less likely that outlier higher scores, if influenced by random variation, are not overestimating the experience. This is what we call a "risk-averse" scoring. We also report ranking and scores without this weighting method. \

About the author

Professor Gijsbert Stoet has years of experience as psychology professor and external examiner at multiple universities across the UK.

Methodology

Data source

Each year, almost all UK universities ask students to fill in the official National Student Survey (NSS). NSS is conducted annually by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Office for Students and the UK higher education funding bodies.

In this ranking, we use the data from three years (2024-2026).

The NSS has 26 questions that all final-year students in the UK fill in each year. They are about the quality of teaching, library, computers, etc. There is even a question about how well the university informs students about mental-health support, which is really important given relatively high levels of depression and loneliness among students.

For each question, the score is a percentage (0-100%). The percentage indicates how many students gave a positive answer ("positivity").

Included data

We only used data from students who:

studied a UG generic BSc Hons psychology programme
studied full-time
had psychology as their main degree topic ("first degree")

We only used data from universities that had data for all three years for this type of full-time first degree students.

Calculation

Step 1: Creating an average score for each department and year

average the scores for all 26 questions for 2024 into one average for 2024
Average the scores for all 26 questions for 2025 into one average for 2025
Average the scores for all 26 questions for 2026 into one average for 2026

This way, for each university, we have three scores (one for each year)

Step 2: Weighted average

For each university, we take a weighted average of their three year scores. The lowest score weights heaviest and the highest score least. The lowest score is weighted 3×, the middle score is weighted 2×, and the highest score simply counts 1×.

The weighted mean score and unweighted mean score are typically very close, but it can make a university rank just one place higher/lower. We list both weighted and unweighted score/ranking.

The reason for the weighting is that this way, true quality is less likely to be overestimated.

Step 3: Calculate relative direction

We calculated the z-scores for the unweighted overall scores of 2024, 2025, and 2026 and then used these scores to see if universities went upward each year or went downward each year. Using the z-scores ensured that direction is relative to other universities and not, for example, an overall inflation that all universities might experience. We report this as an arrow in the table below.

Full list

In the Table below, this is the meaning of the columns:

Ranking: The PsyToolkit ranking, with lowest score in past 3 years heaviest weighted
Score: The PsyToolkit score (a weighted mean, see Methodology). All scores are on 0-100%
Unweighted ranking: Ranking based on unweighted 3-year average scores
Unweighted score: Unweighted 3-year average score
Ranking direction: Using unweighted scores, did the department improve relative to others
Sample size: The sum of responding students over the three year period. Of course, smaller institutions have smaller samples.

Ranking	University/college	score	Unweighted Ranking	Unweighed score	Ranking direction	Sample size
1	University of Wales Trinity Saint David	91.58	1	92.44		65
2	Teesside University	89.81	5	90.09		223
3	Lincoln Bishop University	89.71	3	90.13		58
4	Abertay University	89.69	6	89.94	↘	174
5	Birmingham Newman University	89.12	2	90.53		113
6	Buckinghamshire New University	88.69	4	90.1	↗	53
7	The University of Chichester	88.58	7	89.02	↘	195
8	University of Derby	88.27	8	88.92		174
9	Canterbury Christ Church University	87.81	11	88.16		176
10	St Mary’s University, Twickenham	87.69	9	88.54		82
11	University of Staffordshire	87.38	12	87.84		178
12	University of Suffolk	87.25	10	88.23		74
13	Edinburgh Napier University	86.98	14	87.19	↘	135
14	The University of West London	86.97	13	87.73		226
15	London Metropolitan University	86.87	15	86.93	↘	269
16	University of Sunderland	86.58	16	86.73	↘	93
17	The University of Surrey	86.2	17	86.64		482
18	Manchester Metropolitan University	85.99	23	86.21		722
19	The London School of Economics and Political Science	85.96	24	86.08	↘	94
20	Aston University	85.95	19	86.38		502
21	The University of Leicester	85.64	25	85.84	↘	723
22	Liverpool Hope University	85.48	20	86.27		293
23	The University of Warwick	85.46	27	85.68		582
24	University of Hertfordshire	85.42	21	86.24		167
25	University of St Mark & St John	85.36	22	86.22		46
26	The University of Sheffield	85.3	18	86.48	↗	457
27	The University of Bath	85.02	28	85.26		619
28	Liverpool John Moores University	84.63	29	84.97		411
29	Roehampton University	84.59	31	84.84	↘	262
30	University of South Wales	84.58	30	84.85		346
31	University of Northumbria at Newcastle	83.95	34	84.31		704
32	University of Portsmouth	83.81	35	84.28	↘	710
33	Queen’s University of Belfast	83.74	32	84.43		385
34	Northeastern University (London)	83.67	26	85.77		42
35	University of Winchester	83.55	38	83.95		178
36	University of York	83.13	39	83.85	↘	526
37	University of St Andrews	83.1	49	83.43		260
38	University of Ulster	83.09	33	84.36	↗	249
39	University of Wolverhampton	83.06	36	84.24		210
40	University of Worcester	83.03	37	83.99	↗	110
41	Oxford Brookes University	83.01	44	83.68	↗	248
42	Birmingham City University	82.93	41	83.8	↗	881
43	Birkbeck College	82.9	43	83.76		101
44	University of Lincoln	82.8	54	82.96	↘	580
45	The University of Huddersfield	82.79	40	83.84		265
46	University of Southampton	82.7	42	83.79		552
47	Bangor University	82.69	56	82.75	↘	350
48	Nottingham Trent University	82.68	46	83.6	↗	1047
49	University of Cambridge	82.66	45	83.68	↗	148
50	Aberystwyth University	82.65	47	83.51		329
51	Loughborough University	82.57	52	83.12		713
52	King’s College London	82.09	63	82.46		762
53	London South Bank University	82.08	59	82.61	↘	193
54	Southampton Solent University	82.04	48	83.47		219
55	University of Glasgow	81.9	64	82.43		404
56	Swansea University	81.9	58	82.66	↗	645
57	University of Gloucestershire	81.75	57	82.71		98
58	University of Strathclyde	81.67	67	82.05		359
59	University of Aberdeen	81.66	51	83.12		383
60	Middlesex University	81.62	61	82.56		302
61	University of East London	81.58	53	83	↘	138
62	Anglia Ruskin University	81.5	65	82.37		398
63	University College London	81.46	50	83.37		610
64	University of the West of Scotland	81.32	62	82.51		193
65	Wrexham Glyndwr University	81.14	60	82.56		37
66	The University of Reading	81.08	68	81.89		466
67	The University of Birmingham	81.08	55	82.91	↗	717
68	University of Stirling	80.66	74	81.33		377
69	Edge Hill University	80.55	79	80.98		341
70	Royal Holloway and Bedford New College	80.43	71	81.52		622
71	The University of Leeds	80.41	80	80.86	↗	536
72	Coventry University	80.33	70	81.7	↗	242
73	Cardiff Metropolitan University	80.23	69	81.76		175
74	Cardiff University	80.23	75	81.32		205
75	University of Bedfordshire	80.16	66	82.19		127
76	York St John University	80.01	82	80.83		262
77	The University of Essex	79.89	77	81.21	↗	368
78	The University of East Anglia	79.85	72	81.51	↗	443
79	University of Durham	79.76	81	80.84		624
80	Brunel University London	79.69	73	81.34	↗	298
81	University of Plymouth	79.67	85	80.27		464
82	University of Dundee	79.64	86	80.14		217
83	The University of Hull	79.37	91	79.68		281
84	Kingston University	79.29	78	81.01	↗	284
85	Leeds Trinity University	79.23	83	80.52		133
86	Heriot-Watt University	79.15	90	79.77	↘	167
87	The University of Westminster	79.04	98	79.19	↘	574
88	University of Salford	79.04	89	79.87		379
89	De Montfort University	78.96	93	79.65	↘	429
90	University of Keele	78.78	92	79.65		483
91	University of Chester	78.77	84	80.47		277
92	University of Exeter	78.68	88	79.9	↗	583
93	University of Greater Manchester	78.51	76	81.28	↘	114
94	Sheffield Hallam University	78.45	100	79.12		764
95	University of the West of England, Bristol	78.45	96	79.27		715
96	Wirral Metropolitan College	78.44	94	79.29		43
97	University of Sussex	78.38	87	80.06	↗	1176
98	Bath Spa University	78.13	99	79.14		261
99	The University of Liverpool	78.09	101	78.77		666
100	The University of Bradford	78.05	97	79.26		129
101	University of Newcastle upon Tyne	77.76	104	78.09		553
102	University of Nottingham	77.27	103	78.3	↗	656
103	Bournemouth University	77.22	102	78.32		468
104	University of Greenwich	77.14	106	77.69		583
105	University of Brighton	77.06	95	79.28		430
106	Queen Mary University of London	76.99	105	77.76		345
107	Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh	76.84	107	77.51		131
108	The University of Lancaster	75.92	111	76.36	↘	439
109	University of Bristol	75.84	108	77.24		360
110	The University of Buckingham	75.36	109	76.67	↗	54
111	The University of Manchester	74.54	112	76.32	↗	982
112	The University of Kent	74.24	113	76.14	↗	482
113	University of Northampton	71.43	114	74.56		275
114	Goldsmiths' College	70.78	116	70.96		237
115	University of Edinburgh	70.71	115	72.78		444
116	Blackburn College	68.42	110	76.38	↘	44

Copyright and Notes

This ranking is copyrighted. When data are being used, please ensure it is properly cited: Stoet, G. (2026). Stable and risk-averse ranking of student experience. PsyToolkit website via https://www.psytoolkit.org/nss.html

We take no responsibility for errors in the data or data analyses.

Some universities did not have all data for each of the included years. Some of these universities have merged or changed name. In any case, here is the list of institutions for which there were no data for each of the three cycles: City College Norwich, City University of London, University of Oxford, Arden University, University of Cumbria, The Oldham College, Solihull College and University Centre, University of the Highlands and Islands, Leeds Beckett University, City St George’s, University of Lancashire, LCA Education Limited, Burnley College, South Essex College of Further and Higher Education, The University of Cumbria, Regent’s University London Limited, Farnborough College of Technology, DN Colleges Group.

A list of the 26 questions

For each department the NSS reports the percentage of students who answer good or very good. The PsyToolkit score takes the grant average of these as a reliably reflection of the overall student satisfaction.

How good are teaching staff at explaining things?
How often do teaching staff make the subject engaging?
How often is the course intellectually stimulating?
How often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?
To what extent have you had the chance to explore ideas and concepts in depth?
How well does your course introduce subjects and skills in a way that builds on what you have already learned?
To what extent have you had the chance to bring together information and ideas from different topics?
To what extent does your course have the right balance of directed and independent study?
How well has your course developed your knowledge and skills that you think you will need for your future?
How clear were the marking criteria used to assess your work?
How fair has the marking and assessment been on your course?
How well have assessments allowed you to demonstrate what you have learned?
How often have you received assessment feedback on time?
How often does feedback help you to improve your work?
How easy was it to contact teaching staff when you needed to?
How well have teaching staff supported your learning?
How well organised is your course?
How well were any changes to teaching on your course communicated?
How well have the IT resources and facilities supported your learning?
How well have the library resources (e.g., books, online services and learning spaces) supported your learning?
How easy is it to access subject-specific resources (e.g., equipment, facilities, software) when you need them?
To what extent do you get the right opportunities to give feedback on your course?
To what extent are students’ opinions about the course valued by staff?
How clear is it that students’ feedback on the course is acted on?
How well does the students’ union (association or guild) represent students’ academic interests?
How well communicated was information about your university/college’s mental wellbeing support services?

How to cite/reference

Stoet, G. (2026). Stable and risk-averse ranking of student experience. PsyToolkit website via https://www.psytoolkit.org/nss.html

Contact

For questions about this ranking, please contact psytoolkit@gmail.com.