Best Universities for Primary Education in the UK 2027
University of Worcester tops our 2027 primary education ranking with 168 points, achieving 94% academic support and 90% teaching quality. York St John University comes second with 166 points and 93% academic support. Edge Hill University is third with 164 points. We ranked 47 UK universities offering primary education degrees across eight metrics: graduate earnings, teaching quality, student satisfaction, academic support, safety, cost of living, social life and sustainability.
Primary education graduate earnings are tightly clustered because most graduates enter national teacher pay scales. Most universities produce graduates earning £28,000 to £32,000. St Mary's University, Twickenham (joint 14th) produces £34,000 — the highest. University College Birmingham (joint 40th) achieves 98% on both teaching quality and academic support — the strongest course delivery double in this field. University of Gloucestershire (12th) achieves 100% academic support. University of Portsmouth (43rd) has the lowest academic support at 61% and lowest teaching quality at 61%.
For how these universities compare across all subjects, see the Unifresher best universities overall ranking and our best universities for employability.
Primary Education University Rankings 2027
| # | University | Grad Earnings | Satisfaction | Teaching Quality | Academic Support | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Worcester Worcester |
£30,000 | 79% | 90% | 94% | 168 |
| 2 | York St John University York |
£30,000 | 80% | 92% | 93% | 166 |
| 3 | Edge Hill University Ormskirk |
£30,000 | 83% | 90% | 93% | 164 |
| 4 | Glyndwr University, Wrexham Wrexham |
£30,000 | 74% | 87% | 96% | 157 |
| 5 | Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester |
£30,000 | 73% | 94% | 95% | 153 |
| 6 | University of Plymouth Plymouth |
£23,500 | 75% | 94% | 98% | 151 |
| 6 | Northumbria University, Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne |
£25,500 | 74% | 88% | 91% | 151 |
| 7 | Durham University Durham |
£30,000 | 78% | 78% | 86% | 150 |
| 7 | University of the West of England, Bristol Bristol |
£30,000 | 74% | 90% | 92% | 150 |
| 7 | University of South Wales Pontypridd |
£25,000 | 72% | 97% | 96% | 150 |
| 8 | Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff |
£21,000 | 75% | 93% | 88% | 148 |
| 8 | University of Hertfordshire Hertfordshire |
£30,000 | 71% | 94% | 97% | 148 |
| 9 | Bangor University Bangor |
£29,500 | 76% | 80% | 86% | 147 |
| 10 | Nottingham Trent University Nottingham |
£30,000 | 76% | 92% | 95% | 146 |
| 11 | Bath Spa University Bath |
£30,000 | 79% | 79% | 81% | 145 |
| 12 | University of Gloucestershire Cheltenham / Gloucester |
£30,000 | 76% | 87% | 100% | 144 |
| 13 | University of Winchester Winchester |
£30,000 | 82% | 92% | 95% | 142 |
| 14 | St Mary's University, Twickenham Twickenham |
£34,000 | 80% | 94% | 98% | 139 |
| 14 | Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury |
£30,000 | 73% | 85% | 91% | 139 |
| 15 | University of Reading Reading |
£31,000 | 74% | 79% | 88% | 134 |
| 16 | University of Wales Trinity Saint David Lampeter / Carmarthen / Swansea |
£24,500 | 79% | 88% | 96% | 133 |
| 17 | University of Sussex Brighton and Hove |
£30,000 | 77% | 92% | 99% | 131 |
| 17 | University of Bedfordshire Luton |
£30,000 | 68% | 93% | 95% | 131 |
| 18 | Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool |
£28,000 | 72% | 82% | 85% | 129 |
| 19 | Bishop Grosseteste University Lincoln |
£30,000 | 84% | 91% | 88% | 128 |
| 19 | University of Brighton Brighton |
£30,000 | 72% | 90% | 93% | 128 |
| 20 | Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield |
£28,500 | 73% | 89% | 90% | 127 |
| 21 | Kingston University Kingston upon Thames |
£28,000 | 71% | 90% | 92% | 126 |
| 22 | University of Leeds Leeds |
£24,000 | 74% | 86% | 95% | 125 |
| 23 | Leeds Beckett University Leeds |
£30,000 | 70% | 88% | 87% | 124 |
| 24 | University of Strathclyde Glasgow |
£32,000 | 75% | 93% | 97% | 121 |
| 25 | Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge |
£22,500 | 70% | 89% | 93% | 120 |
| 25 | Coventry University Coventry |
£25,000 | 72% | 90% | 94% | 120 |
| 26 | Liverpool Hope University Liverpool |
£28,000 | 80% | 91% | 99% | 119 |
| 27 | Oxford Brookes University Oxford |
£30,000 | 74% | 71% | 87% | 116 |
| 27 | University of Sunderland Sunderland |
£30,000 | 74% | 80% | 84% | 116 |
| 28 | Birmingham City University Birmingham |
£30,000 | 69% | 81% | 88% | 113 |
| 29 | University of Derby Derby |
£30,000 | 74% | 86% | 83% | 111 |
| 30 | Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Edinburgh |
£32,000 | 78% | 90% | 85% | 110 |
| 31 | University of Greenwich London |
£30,000 | 69% | 84% | 84% | 109 |
| 32 | University of Cumbria Carlisle |
£30,000 | 77% | 82% | 87% | 108 |
| 33 | Leeds Trinity University Leeds |
£30,000 | 78% | 85% | 96% | 106 |
| 33 | University of Huddersfield Huddersfield |
£30,000 | 74% | 85% | 85% | 106 |
| 34 | University of Chester Chester |
£19,000 | 78% | 86% | 87% | 105 |
| 35 | University of East London London |
£30,000 | 68% | 94% | 96% | 103 |
| 36 | Buckinghamshire New University High Wycombe |
£30,000 | 70% | 93% | 90% | 102 |
| 36 | University of Northampton Northampton |
£30,000 | 75% | 90% | 94% | 102 |
| 37 | University of Chichester Chichester |
£30,000 | 80% | 95% | 95% | 95 |
| 38 | University of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton |
£30,000 | 71% | 92% | 94% | 91 |
| 39 | Staffordshire University Stoke-on-Trent |
£27,000 | 72% | 82% | 78% | 88 |
| 40 | Teesside University Middlesbrough |
£18,500 | 78% | 90% | 95% | 87 |
| 40 | University College Birmingham Birmingham |
£17,000 | 79% | 98% | 98% | 87 |
| 41 | Middlesex University Middlesex |
£33,000 | 69% | 84% | 88% | 86 |
| 42 | University of Suffolk Ipswich |
£23,000 | 76% | 76% | 89% | 85 |
| 43 | University of Portsmouth Portsmouth |
£27,000 | 77% | 61% | 61% | 83 |
| 44 | University of Roehampton London |
£32,000 | 72% | 86% | 93% | 80 |
| 45 | University of Hull Hull |
£30,000 | 76% | 76% | 83% | 73 |
| 46 | London Metropolitan University London |
£29,500 | 66% | 87% | 87% | 71 |
| 47 | Newman University, Birmingham Birmingham |
£30,000 | 83% | 85% | 87% | 68 |
What the ranking tells you about studying primary education
Primary education degrees lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) for teaching in primary schools (ages 3 to 11) in England and Wales, or the equivalent Teaching Qualification (TQ) in Scotland. All programmes are regulated and inspected by Ofsted (England) or Estyn (Wales) as part of the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) framework. With 47 universities in this ranking, programme differences in school placement quality, mentoring structures, curriculum breadth and inclusion training are significant. Course delivery scores are especially meaningful for a profession where pedagogical quality of university sessions directly shapes classroom practice.
Graduate earnings: national pay scales make the range misleading
Newly qualified teachers (NQTs/ECTs) in England start on the national pay scale, which from 2024 is set at a minimum of approximately £30,000 outside London and £34,500 in Inner London. The apparent variation from £17,000 to £34,000 in this ranking primarily reflects three factors unrelated to programme quality: the timing of QTS registration and employment relative to the six-month survey, whether graduates are in salaried classroom roles or completing further training or supply work at survey time, and London weighting. University College Birmingham (joint 40th) producing £17,000 and University of Chester (34th) producing £19,000 are data timing artefacts. St Mary's University, Twickenham (joint 14th) producing £34,000 reflects London Inner weighting. None of these figures reflect programme quality.
University College Birmingham at joint 40th: 98% on both metrics
University College Birmingham ranks joint 40th with 87 points and achieves 98% on both teaching quality and academic support — the highest course delivery double in this 47-institution field. UCB ranks joint 40th because of a very low sustainability score, low safety score and very low graduate earnings figure (a timing artefact rather than a measure of eventual salary). Its course delivery data is the strongest double measured in this ranking. For students prioritising the quality of primary education training specifically, UCB's data makes a strong case independent of its overall position.
University of Gloucestershire (12th) achieves 100% academic support — the only institution in this field to do so — alongside 87% teaching quality and a 12th-place overall position. University of Sussex (joint 17th) achieves 99% academic support. Liverpool Hope University (26th) achieves 99% academic support. For students specifically comparing programmes on academic support quality, Gloucestershire, Sussex and Liverpool Hope provide the three highest-measured scores in this ranking, with Gloucestershire the only institution in the field reaching 100%.
For a broader view of how these universities compare, see the Unifresher overall best universities ranking. For graduate employment data, see the employability ranking.
