Deciding where to go to university can be tough. You’ll want to know which universities rank the highest for student satisfaction, nightlife and perhaps even the prettiest campus. But, what about safety? Using the most recent crime rates for university cities and towns published by the Complete University Guide, we’ve identified the most dangerous universities in the UK.

Check out the slideshow to find the top 10 dangerous unis, or read more about them below. 

Aston University
1. Aston University
Birmingham City University
2. Birmingham City University
London School of Economics
3. London School of Economics
Liverpool John Moores University
4. Liverpool John Moores University
Teesside University
5. Teesside University
Wolverhampton University
6. Wolverhampton University
De Montfort University
7. De Montfort University
King's College London
8. King's College London
University of Bradford
9. University of Bradford
Coventry University
10. Coventry University
Which UK universities are based in the most dangerous areas? According to the latest crime data, Aston University tops the list for 2024, with a crime score of 298.5 incidents per 1,000 residents — including high levels of violence, sexual offences, and robbery. City-based institutions such as Birmingham City University, LSE, and Liverpool John Moores also feature prominently. These rankings are based on university location, not campus safety itself — but they do reflect the wider risks students might face living in urban centres. To compare, check out our guide to the UK universities with the happiest students for a more holistic view of student life.

10. Coventry University- 165

Coventry University most dangerous universities In position 10 on our list, we have the Coventry University. This university scored particularly highly for violence or sexual crime, but lower for robbery and burglary. All together that gave it a combined score of 165 incidents per 1000 residents, which made it into this spot on the list. Considering some of the other most dangerous unis, it’s not as bad when you look at incident rates. It’s not exactly great either.

9. The University of Bradford-167.1

The University of Bradford
Source: The University of Bradford
Following on in our list of the most dangerous universities in the UK in 2024 is The University of Bradford, a public research university located in West Yorkshire. Yet again, according to the data Bradford ranked pretty highly for violence and sexual crime. Its total score comes in at 167.1 incidents per 1000 residents- that’s just under 17%.

8. King’s College London – 167.5

King's College London crime incident rates per 1000 residents
Source: King’s College London
In 8th position is King’s College London, which has quite a high crime incident rate of 167.5. It’s fairly similar to the University of Bradford, whereby they both have 17% incident rate according to number of residents. It’s slightly more expected in London, where crimes in the capital are generally less rare. The most frequent crime types were theft from a person and violence or sexual crime.

7. De Montfort – 171.3

De Montfort University - most dangerous unis
Credit: De Montfort University
Unlike King’s College London, theft from a person was really low at De Montfort. As were all other kinds of robbery. However. violence and sexual crimes were so frequent that it shot De Montfort into 7th place on our list of most dangerous unis for 2024. It has an overall score of 171.3

6. Wolverhampton – 171.6

University of Wolverhampton open days
University of Wolverhampton
With a pretty similar overall score to De Montfort, Wolverhampton falls in 6th place of the most dangerous universities in the UK for 2024. Likewise, scores weren’t too high across the board, except when it came to violence and sexual crimes that made up 134.5/171.6. That’s 78%! Pretty concerning.

5. Teesside University – 180.8

Teesside University in Middlesbrough sits in the fourth position on our list. Burglary and violence or sexual crime were pretty high for this one, giving it a combined score of 180.8. To put it into some context, some of the safest universities in the UK score under 10 in this data.
Teeside University
Source: Teeside University

4. Liverpool John Moores-214.2

We’re now halfway through our list and coming in at position number five is Liverpool John Moores University. The university offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees including degree apprenticeships. While its robbery and burglary scores are lower than others, its rate of violence or sexual crime gives LJM a total score of 214.2
The most dangerous universities in the UK in 2022 revealed!
source: Canva

3. London School of Economics -230.4

We have another London university on this list. Academically wise, LSE has been repeatedly voted as one of the best universities in London. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to safety. In fact, LSE scored pretty highly overall in categories including Violence and sexual crime (65.8). Its total score comes in at 230.4 which puts it at position 3 on our list, 4 places worse than last year.
London School of Economics
Source: London School of Economics

2. Birmingham City University-274.4

And in position 2, we have Birmingham City University. The rival uni to The University of Birmingham isn’t standing up so well on this list. In fact, it scored pretty highly on all fronts including burglary, robbery and violence or sexual crime. Its total score sits at 274.4 of incidents per 1000 residents.
the most dangerous universities in the UK 2022
Source: Canva

1. Aston University-298.5

And drum roll, please… In position 1 and officially ranked the most dangerous university in the UK is Aston University. This public research university is the second Birmingham City University to make it onto our list. It scored 32.4 for robbery (double from last year), 20.8 for burglary and 208.6 for violence and sexual crime. All of this combined gave Aston university a total score of 298.5
Aston University: The most dangerous universities in the UK in 2022
Source: Aston University
For more information on how the table is calculated, visit the CU website. Whilst this list compiled the most dangerous student areas and universities, it may interest you to know, that the top five institutions with the lowest recorded crime rates are also shown in this data. These include St Georges University of London (3.9), Harper Adams (17.4), Falmouth (22.9), Royal Agricultural University (24.6) and Rose Bruford College (25.9). Whether this changes your decision on where to attend university or not, do take note of each university’s security measures and stay safe wherever you are!
Aminah Barnes
Aminah Barnes – Manchester Metropolitan University
Topic expertise: University & Degree choice, Applications, Travel and Student life

FAQs on the Most Dangerous UK Universities

Aston University is ranked as the most dangerous university in the UK for 2024, with a crime score of 298.5 incidents per 1,000 residents. This is driven by high rates of violence, sexual offences, and robbery in the surrounding area.

The five most dangerous universities based on local crime rates are Aston University, Birmingham City University, London School of Economics (LSE), Liverpool John Moores University, and Teesside University.

These rankings use official local crime statistics, focusing on the number of violent crimes, sexual offences, robbery, and burglary per 1,000 residents. The data reflects the surrounding area of each university, not just the campus itself.

Yes. Universities located in large cities like London, Birmingham, and Liverpool tend to have higher crime rates due to the general risks associated with urban living. Students in these areas are advised to take extra safety precautions.

Some of the safest universities include St George’s University of London, Harper Adams University, Falmouth University, Royal Agricultural University, and Rose Bruford College. These have the lowest crime scores, often below 30 incidents per 1,000 residents.