Key Summary
FAQs
Which UK university has the biggest gender gap?
In this article's calculation using 2023/24 HESA enrolment data, Queen Margaret University has the largest gap among institutions with at least 5,000 enrolments. Nearly 78% of students were female and just under 22% were male, a difference of more than 55 percentage points. University of the Arts London ranked second.
How was the university gender gap ranking calculated?
The article used HESA 2023/24 enrolment data, compared female and male enrolments at each institution, and calculated the difference as a share of total enrolments. Institutions with fewer than 5,000 total enrolments were excluded, so the result is a ranking of larger providers rather than every UK higher education institution.
Is this gender gap ranking based on the latest HESA data?
No, not anymore. The ranking itself uses 2023/24 provider data, while HESA published 2024/25 sector statistics in January 2026. That newer release shows 56% of all UK higher education students were female, but the article's provider ranking should be treated as a 2023/24 snapshot unless the calculation is rerun.
Which university in the ranking has a male majority?
Cranfield University is the main exception in the top ten, with a strong male majority in the article's 2023/24 calculation. Around 69% of students were male and just over 29% female. Its postgraduate focus and concentration in engineering, technology and applied sciences are relevant context when interpreting that institutional balance.
Why do some universities have such large gender gaps?
Subject mix is a major reason. Universities with large health, nursing, education, psychology or creative arts populations can have female-heavy enrolments, while specialist engineering and technology providers can skew male. The overall institutional percentage therefore reflects what is taught, who applies and the level of study, not simply a university recruitment policy.
Does a large gender gap prove discrimination at a university?
No. An uneven enrolment split does not by itself prove discrimination or unequal treatment. It shows who is enrolled in the measured categories and period. To assess equality properly, you would need wider evidence on applications, offers, attainment, retention, staff, subject mix, student experience and outcomes rather than one institution-wide percentage.
Is the ranking measuring gender identity or recorded sex?
The source data is HESA student data broken down by sex, while the article describes the result as a gender gap. Those terms are not identical. Students should read the methodology carefully and avoid assuming that a female-versus-male enrolment calculation captures every gender identity or the full experience of trans and non-binary students.
What is the overall female and male split across UK higher education?
In HESA's 2024/25 sector release, 56% of all higher education students were female. That national figure is useful context, but it does not tell you how balanced a particular university, course or year group is. Provider and subject-level patterns can differ substantially from the UK-wide average.
How can I check the current gender balance at a university?
Start with HESA's student characteristics data and check the year, provider and category definitions. For your likely day-to-day experience, course-level information can be more useful than the whole-university split, especially at institutions with strongly gendered subject areas.
Despite years of international attention on the issue, gender gaps remain. Numerous studies and surveys show that the global gender gap between women and men continues to be concerning. But how has this manifested in higher education in the UK? Let’s find out! Here is the list of unis with the biggest gender gap.
How we came up with the list
We took the most recent available enrolment data from HESA (2023/2024) to find out the number of females and males enrolled at each higher education institution. We then calculated the difference between the number of females and males as a percentage of the total number of enrolments to find the unis with the biggest gender gap.
Finally, we removed universities, colleges or other higher education institutions that had fewer than 5,000 total enrolments to focus on the major unis.
1. Queen Margaret University
Queen Margaret University currently has the largest gender gap of any UK university in the dataset. With nearly 78% of students identifying as female and just under 22% as male, the difference between genders exceeds 55 percentage points, making it a clear outlier.
This imbalance is closely tied to the university’s academic specialisms. Queen Margaret focuses heavily on health sciences, nursing, speech and language therapy, psychology, and social care, all of which remain female-dominated fields across the UK. The institution also attracts a high proportion of mature students and career changers, demographics that are statistically more likely to be women, particularly in caring and health-related professions. The result is a consistently female-heavy student population rather than a short-term fluctuation.
2. University of the Arts, London
The University of the Arts London has the second-largest gender gap, with women accounting for just over 76% of its students and men making up a little over 23%. This creates a gender difference of more than 53 percentage points.
UAL’s position reflects broader trends in creative education. Subjects such as fashion, textiles, fine art, illustration, and design attract far more female applicants than male ones, both in the UK and internationally. As a large specialist provider with multiple colleges dedicated to these disciplines, UAL amplifies national subject-level patterns rather than counteracting them. Its global appeal also brings in international students from countries where creative industries education is similarly gendered.
3. University of Worcester
At the University of Worcester, women make up just over 70% of the student body, while men account for under 29%, resulting in a gender gap of more than 42 percentage points.
This skew is strongly influenced by Worcester’s course portfolio. The university has well-established strengths in education, nursing, midwifery, psychology, and allied health professions, all of which consistently recruit more women than men nationwide. Worcester also serves a large commuter population and has strong links to local health and education employers, which further reinforces female participation through vocational and professional routes into higher education.
4. Edge Hill University
Edge Hill University shows a similar pattern, with women representing just over 70% of students and men just under 30%, creating a gender gap of around 40.5 percentage points.
Edge Hill is one of the UK’s largest providers of teacher training and health-related degrees, areas where female participation has historically been high and remains so today. The university also places a strong emphasis on widening participation and access routes, which tend to attract students from groups that are more likely to include women returning to education or entering caring professions later in life.
5. Cranfield University
Cranfield University is the only institution in the top ten where men outnumber women. Around 69% of its students are male, compared with just over 29% female, producing a gender gap of nearly 40 percentage points in the opposite direction to most universities on this list.
This imbalance is largely structural rather than cultural. Cranfield is a postgraduate-only university with a strong focus on engineering, aerospace, defence, manufacturing, and applied science. These sectors remain heavily male-dominated across both education and industry, and without an undergraduate intake to dilute this effect, the gender imbalance becomes particularly pronounced at institutional level.
6. Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths has a female student population of just under 69%, compared with around 30% male students, resulting in a gender gap of close to 39 percentage points.
Although Goldsmiths is often associated with arts and humanities, the gender split reflects the scale of its creative, cultural, and social science provision, which tends to attract more women overall. While the university has expanded into digital media, computing, and technology-focused courses that recruit more men, these remain smaller in size compared to its core subject areas, leaving the overall balance firmly female-dominated.
7. University of Chichester
At the University of Chichester, women account for just under 67% of the student population, while men make up around 33%, producing a gender gap of nearly 34 percentage points.
This distribution is influenced by strong enrolment in education, psychology, performing arts, and sport-related teaching degrees. While sport courses are often male-dominated elsewhere, Chichester’s emphasis on education-linked and teaching-focused pathways within sport attracts a higher proportion of female students than might be expected.
8. University of Winchester
The University of Winchester also shows a clear female majority, with women making up almost 67% of students and men just under 32%, resulting in a 35 percentage point gap.
Winchester’s strengths lie in humanities, education, theology, and professional studies, alongside a sizeable postgraduate cohort. These subject areas tend to attract more women nationally, particularly among mature students and those pursuing vocational or values-driven careers, which helps explain the persistent imbalance.
9. University of Law
At the University of Law, women account for approximately 66.5% of the student body, compared with around 33% men, creating a gender gap of just over 33 percentage points.
This is notable given that law as a discipline is relatively balanced at undergraduate level nationally. However, the University of Law’s focus on postgraduate professional training, conversion courses, part-time study, and career-switching routes attracts a different demographic. These pathways are increasingly popular among women returning to education or changing careers, which shifts the gender balance at institutional level.
10. University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton rounds out the list, with women making up just under 66% of students and men just over 34%, resulting in a gender gap of nearly 32 percentage points.
This pattern reflects strong enrolment in health, education, and social care courses, combined with widening participation initiatives that have been particularly successful in attracting female students. While the university does offer male-dominated subjects such as engineering and construction, these make up a smaller share of total enrolments, leaving the overall gender balance female-heavy.
Overall, the data shows that subject mix remains the dominant factor shaping gender imbalances in UK universities. Institutions specialising in health, education, and creative arts tend to enrol far more women, while highly technical, postgraduate-only universities like Cranfield continue to skew male. These patterns are consistent across the sector and reflect wider trends in education and employment rather than short-term changes in student preference.
So, that’s the wind-up on the UK unis with the biggest gender gap. To look at the other end of the spectrum, why not check out our post on the UK unis with the most female students?