7th in the UK: Complete University Guide 2026

News

Posted on Thursday 12 June 2025

York is ranked 7th in the UK for biological sciences in the latest release of the Complete University Guide league tables (2026)

This week, we maintained our place among the UK’s most highly regarded institutions for the subject of biological sciences. York ranked 7th in the UK for the study of this subject in the Complete University Guide 2026.

The Department of Biology specialises in biological sciences at York. Head of Biology, Professor James Chong said, "It's great to know that biological sciences research-led teaching at York continues to be recognised as some of the best in the UK."

York’s overall position

The University of York ranked 12th overall and 8th in the Russell Group in the Complete University Guide 2026. The guide ranks 130 institutions across the UK.

In total, 15 subjects at York were ranked in the UK top 10:

Archaeology: 6th
Biological Sciences: 7th
Chemistry: 6th
Drama, Dance and Cinematics: 5th
English: 6th
French: 4th
History: 8th
History of Art, Architecture and Design: 7th
Iberian Languages: 6th
Linguistics: 5th
Marketing: 7th
Nursing and Midwifery: 7th
Philosophy: 8th
Psychology: 5th
Social Policy: 8th
Social Work: 9th

A further four subjects appeared in the UK top 20.

About the Complete University Guide

Published annually, The Complete University Guide league tables rank the best universities in the UK. It covers 74 separate subject areas, as well as an overall institutional ranking. Universities and subjects are ranked on entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, graduate prospects, completion rates, student-staff ratio and spend on academic services and facilities.

The rankings are based on public domain data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the National Student Survey and the Research Excellence Framework 2021.