Best Universities for Physiotherapy in the UK 2027
University of Worcester tops our 2027 physiotherapy ranking with 156 points, achieving 99% academic support and 100% teaching quality. York St John University comes second with 154 points and 100% academic support. Canterbury Christ Church University is 5th with 97% academic support and 99% teaching quality. We ranked 49 UK universities offering physiotherapy degrees across eight metrics: graduate earnings, teaching quality, student satisfaction, academic support, safety, cost of living, social life and sustainability.
Physiotherapy graduate earnings are tightly clustered because most graduates enter NHS Band 5, which sets a national starting salary. The apparent range from £20,000 (Newman University) to £32,000 (Brunel, City St George's and BNU) primarily reflects London weighting and HCPC registration timing rather than programme quality. Buckinghamshire New University (joint 35th) has the lowest academic support at 50% and lowest teaching quality at 40% — the most extreme course delivery outlier in this ranking. University of Bedfordshire (30th) has the second-lowest academic support at 64%.
For how these universities compare across all subjects, see the Unifresher best universities overall ranking and our best universities for employability.
Physiotherapy University Rankings 2027
| # | University | Grad Earnings | Satisfaction | Teaching Quality | Academic Support | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Worcester Worcester | £28,500 | 79% | 100% | 99% | 156 |
| 2 | York St John University York | £28,500 | 80% | 97% | 100% | 154 |
| 3 | Northumbria University, Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne | £27,500 | 74% | 94% | 94% | 139 |
| 4 | University of the West of England, Bristol Bristol | £28,500 | 74% | 96% | 96% | 137 |
| 5 | Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury | £28,500 | 73% | 99% | 97% | 134 |
| 6 | Glyndwr University, Wrexham Wrexham | £28,000 | 74% | 88% | 93% | 128 |
| 7 | University of Liverpool Liverpool | £28,500 | 71% | 94% | 100% | 127 |
| 8 | University of Plymouth Plymouth | £28,500 | 75% | 92% | 88% | 126 |
| 8 | University of Salford Salford | £28,500 | 73% | 98% | 97% | 126 |
| 9 | Leeds Beckett University Leeds | £28,500 | 70% | 100% | 95% | 124 |
| 10 | Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow | £30,000 | 71% | 95% | 96% | 123 |
| 11 | University of Sunderland Sunderland | £29,000 | 74% | 88% | 100% | 120 |
| 12 | University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich | £28,000 | 79% | 89% | 82% | 118 |
| 12 | University of Brighton Brighton | £28,500 | 72% | 97% | 97% | 118 |
| 13 | Bournemouth University Bournemouth | £27,500 | 71% | 89% | 88% | 117 |
| 13 | University of Winchester Winchester | £28,000 | 82% | 93% | 95% | 117 |
| 14 | University of Gloucestershire Cheltenham / Gloucester | £29,000 | 76% | 87% | 94% | 116 |
| 14 | Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester | £28,500 | 73% | 91% | 85% | 116 |
| 15 | Cardiff University Cardiff | £28,500 | 71% | 81% | 89% | 114 |
| 16 | St Mary's University, Twickenham Twickenham | £27,500 | 80% | 96% | 96% | 113 |
| 17 | Oxford Brookes University Oxford | £28,000 | 74% | 91% | 89% | 111 |
| 18 | University of Leicester Leicester | £28,500 | 73% | 96% | 97% | 107 |
| 18 | University of Bradford Bradford | £28,500 | 71% | 97% | 96% | 107 |
| 19 | University of Derby Derby | £28,500 | 74% | 94% | 91% | 106 |
| 20 | Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield | £28,500 | 73% | 84% | 84% | 100 |
| 21 | University of Cumbria Carlisle | £28,500 | 77% | 91% | 86% | 99 |
| 21 | University of Suffolk Ipswich | £27,000 | 76% | 100% | 91% | 99 |
| 22 | University of Huddersfield Huddersfield | £28,500 | 74% | 91% | 93% | 97 |
| 22 | Brunel University London Uxbridge | £32,000 | 68% | 94% | 96% | 97 |
| 23 | University of Southampton Southampton | £28,500 | 76% | 95% | 91% | 95 |
| 23 | University of Hull Hull | £28,000 | 76% | 100% | 100% | 95 |
| 24 | University of Greenwich London | £30,000 | 69% | 85% | 86% | 94 |
| 25 | Coventry University Coventry | £28,500 | 72% | 88% | 85% | 93 |
| 26 | University of Central Lancashire Preston | £28,500 | 71% | 96% | 96% | 92 |
| 27 | King's College London London | £29,000 | 67% | 86% | 88% | 91 |
| 28 | University of East London London | £31,000 | 68% | 94% | 91% | 84 |
| 29 | University of Hertfordshire Hertfordshire | £28,500 | 71% | 95% | 98% | 81 |
| 30 | University of Bedfordshire Luton | £28,000 | 68% | 71% | 64% | 80 |
| 31 | University of Northampton Northampton | £28,500 | 75% | 87% | 84% | 74 |
| 32 | University College Birmingham Birmingham | £28,000 | 79% | 90% | 92% | 71 |
| 33 | Teesside University Middlesbrough | £28,000 | 78% | 85% | 82% | 69 |
| 34 | University of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton | £28,000 | 71% | 93% | 85% | 66 |
| 35 | Buckinghamshire New University High Wycombe | £32,000 | 70% | 40% | 50% | 61 |
| 35 | Newman University, Birmingham Birmingham | £20,000 | 83% | 93% | 93% | 61 |
| 36 | London South Bank University London | £30,000 | 68% | 78% | 93% | 59 |
| 36 | City St George's, University of London London | £32,000 | 67% | 85% | 78% | 59 |
| 37 | University of Roehampton London | £26,000 | 72% | 85% | 86% | 55 |
| 38 | London Metropolitan University London | £28,000 | 66% | 85% | 79% | 51 |
| 39 | University of Chichester Chichester | £28,500 | 80% | 76% | 70% | 50 |
What the ranking tells you about studying physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a regulated Allied Health Profession. All UK physiotherapy programmes must be approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and HCPC registration is legally required to practise. With 49 universities in this ranking, programme differences in placement caseload, clinical setting variety, manual therapy training quality and supervision structures are significant. Course delivery scores are especially meaningful for a practice-based degree where supervised clinical hours directly shape graduate competence.
Buckinghamshire New University at joint 35th: 40% teaching quality and 50% academic support
Buckinghamshire New University ranks joint 35th with 61 points and achieves 40% teaching quality and 50% academic support — both the lowest in this 49-university field. The next-lowest teaching quality in this ranking is University of Bedfordshire at 71% and University of Chichester at 76% — both nearly double BNU's score. The next-lowest academic support is University of Bedfordshire at 64%. BNU ranks joint 35th rather than last because its safety, cost of living and social life scores are reasonable. For a practice-based clinical health degree where teaching quality directly determines the quality of placement preparation, anatomy instruction, clinical reasoning development and supervised practice feedback, 40% teaching quality requires direct investigation before any application. BNU produces £32,000 — this reflects London HCAS supplements, not course quality.
University of Hull at joint 23rd: 100% on both metrics from a suppressed position
University of Hull ranks joint 23rd with 95 points and achieves 100% on both teaching quality and academic support. Hull ranks joint 23rd because of very low graduate earnings rank (4th from bottom in the field) and low sustainability and social life scores. Its course delivery scores are the strongest double in this entire 49-university field alongside University of Worcester (1st). University of Suffolk (joint 21st) also achieves 100% teaching quality. For students prioritising the strongest-measured course delivery in physiotherapy, Hull's data makes a case that its ranking position does not reflect.
University of Worcester (1st) and York St John (2nd) between them provide the two strongest all-round profiles in this ranking. Worcester achieves 100% teaching quality and 99% academic support from 1st with 156 points. York St John achieves 100% academic support and 97% teaching quality from 2nd with 154 points. The 2-point gap separating them is narrower than the gap between any other adjacent positions in the top 10. Canterbury Christ Church (5th) achieves 99% teaching quality and 97% academic support from a position held down by modest safety and sustainability scores. Leeds Beckett (9th) also achieves 100% teaching quality with 95% academic support. For students comparing multiple top-10 options, all four of these institutions have course delivery scores that would rank in the top five physiotherapy departments by either metric.
For a broader view of how these universities compare, see the Unifresher overall best universities ranking. For graduate employment data, see the employability ranking.
