Best Universities for Sociology in the UK 2027
Swansea University tops our 2027 sociology ranking with 226 points, achieving 100% academic support and 96% teaching quality. University of Worcester comes second with 223 points and achieves 100% on both metrics. Bath Spa University is third with 207 points. We ranked 86 UK universities offering sociology degrees across eight metrics: graduate earnings, teaching quality, student satisfaction, academic support, safety, cost of living, social life and sustainability.
LSE (20th) and University of Nottingham (joint 37th) produce £32,000 — the highest sociology graduate earnings in this ranking. University of Cumbria (57th) achieves 50% academic support — the lowest in this field. University of Roehampton (65th) achieves 60% teaching quality — the lowest. Goldsmiths (64th) has the lowest student satisfaction at 64%. University of Birmingham (43rd) achieves 98% academic support and 96% teaching quality from 43rd position. University of Surrey (joint 19th) achieves 100% academic support and 95% teaching quality.
For how these universities compare across all subjects, see the Unifresher best universities overall ranking and our best universities for employability.
Sociology University Rankings 2027
| # | University | Grad Earnings | Satisfaction | Teaching Quality | Academic Support | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swansea University Swansea |
£28,000 | 79% | 96% | 100% | 226 |
| 2 | University of Worcester Worcester |
£28,000 | 79% | 100% | 100% | 223 |
| 3 | Bath Spa University Bath |
£24,500 | 79% | 94% | 94% | 207 |
| 4 | Durham University Durham |
£31,000 | 78% | 90% | 87% | 202 |
| 4 | York St John University York |
£25,000 | 80% | 93% | 97% | 202 |
| 5 | University of Reading Reading |
£27,500 | 74% | 96% | 96% | 200 |
| 6 | University of Exeter Exeter |
£27,000 | 79% | 91% | 84% | 191 |
| 7 | Edge Hill University Ormskirk |
£27,000 | 83% | 88% | 89% | 188 |
| 8 | University of the West of England, Bristol Bristol |
£24,500 | 74% | 94% | 89% | 185 |
| 9 | Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester |
£26,000 | 73% | 92% | 92% | 183 |
| 10 | Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff |
£21,500 | 75% | 87% | 87% | 181 |
| 11 | Bangor University Bangor |
£24,000 | 76% | 88% | 81% | 179 |
| 12 | University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich |
£25,500 | 79% | 88% | 93% | 175 |
| 12 | University of Plymouth Plymouth |
£23,000 | 75% | 89% | 90% | 175 |
| 13 | University of Salford Salford |
£28,000 | 73% | 83% | 95% | 172 |
| 14 | Cardiff University Cardiff |
£24,500 | 71% | 90% | 88% | 171 |
| 15 | Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool |
£21,500 | 72% | 89% | 93% | 170 |
| 16 | Northumbria University, Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne |
£21,000 | 74% | 79% | 83% | 166 |
| 16 | Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne |
£25,500 | 75% | 89% | 94% | 166 |
| 17 | University of Lincoln Lincoln |
£24,000 | 78% | 75% | 85% | 165 |
| 18 | Bournemouth University Bournemouth |
£24,000 | 71% | 85% | 75% | 162 |
| 19 | Oxford Brookes University Oxford |
£25,000 | 74% | 89% | 91% | 161 |
| 19 | University of Surrey Guildford |
£29,000 | 78% | 95% | 100% | 161 |
| 20 | London School of Economics and Political Science London |
£32,000 | 69% | 91% | 94% | 160 |
| 20 | University of Wales Trinity Saint David Lampeter / Carmarthen / Swansea |
£23,500 | 79% | 97% | 97% | 160 |
| 21 | Nottingham Trent University Nottingham |
£22,500 | 76% | 87% | 89% | 159 |
| 21 | University of Bath Bath |
£30,000 | 80% | 88% | 89% | 159 |
| 21 | Lancaster University Lancaster |
£26,000 | 82% | 94% | 89% | 159 |
| 21 | Keele University Newcastle-under-Lyme |
£24,000 | 81% | 95% | 89% | 159 |
| 22 | University of Derby Derby |
£25,000 | 74% | 96% | 96% | 158 |
| 23 | Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield |
£26,000 | 73% | 90% | 86% | 157 |
| 24 | Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh |
£21,000 | 72% | 89% | 89% | 156 |
| 25 | University of York York |
£25,000 | 77% | 89% | 87% | 155 |
| 25 | University of Bedfordshire Luton |
£25,000 | 68% | 90% | 90% | 155 |
| 26 | University of Winchester Winchester |
£26,500 | 82% | 86% | 95% | 153 |
| 27 | Leeds Beckett University Leeds |
£21,000 | 70% | 94% | 88% | 152 |
| 28 | University of Liverpool Liverpool |
£26,500 | 71% | 88% | 74% | 151 |
| 29 | Royal Holloway, University of London Egham |
£27,000 | 74% | 84% | 81% | 149 |
| 29 | Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge |
£27,000 | 70% | 85% | 81% | 149 |
| 30 | University of Gloucestershire Cheltenham / Gloucester |
£27,000 | 76% | 74% | 81% | 148 |
| 31 | University of Leeds Leeds |
£27,000 | 74% | 78% | 82% | 147 |
| 32 | Birmingham City University Birmingham |
£22,000 | 69% | 88% | 91% | 146 |
| 32 | University of Warwick Coventry |
£29,000 | 74% | 91% | 87% | 146 |
| 33 | University of Greenwich London |
£24,500 | 69% | 78% | 94% | 144 |
| 34 | University of Kent Canterbury |
£27,000 | 72% | 83% | 77% | 144 |
| 35 | University of Sussex Brighton and Hove |
£28,000 | 77% | 92% | 92% | 143 |
| 36 | Queen Mary University of London London |
£31,000 | 69% | 94% | 94% | 141 |
| 37 | Coventry University Coventry |
£27,000 | 72% | 84% | 82% | 140 |
| 37 | University of Sheffield Sheffield |
£25,000 | 75% | 87% | 87% | 140 |
| 37 | University of Nottingham Nottingham |
£32,000 | 74% | 89% | 92% | 140 |
| 37 | Bishop Grosseteste University Lincoln |
£24,000 | 84% | 93% | 87% | 140 |
| 38 | University of Hertfordshire Hertfordshire |
£29,000 | 71% | 71% | 85% | 139 |
| 38 | UCL (University College London) London |
£30,500 | 68% | 83% | 88% | 139 |
| 39 | King's College London London |
£30,000 | 67% | 86% | 80% | 137 |
| 40 | University of Essex Colchester |
£26,000 | 74% | 70% | 73% | 136 |
| 41 | University of Manchester Manchester |
£24,000 | 70% | 81% | 82% | 135 |
| 42 | University of Brighton Brighton |
£25,000 | 72% | 85% | 79% | 132 |
| 43 | University of Birmingham Birmingham |
£26,000 | 72% | 96% | 98% | 131 |
| 44 | St Mary's University, Twickenham Twickenham |
£25,500 | 80% | 88% | 85% | 130 |
| 44 | University of Suffolk Ipswich |
£23,500 | 76% | 95% | 100% | 130 |
| 45 | Brunel University London Uxbridge |
£25,000 | 68% | 91% | 94% | 129 |
| 45 | University of Westminster London |
£30,000 | 68% | 92% | 100% | 129 |
| 46 | University of Stirling Stirling |
£27,000 | 78% | 96% | 88% | 121 |
| 47 | University of Central Lancashire Preston |
£20,000 | 71% | 94% | 92% | 120 |
| 47 | University of Northampton Northampton |
£23,500 | 75% | 96% | 100% | 120 |
| 48 | University of Leicester Leicester |
£24,000 | 73% | 73% | 92% | 119 |
| 49 | Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Edinburgh |
£21,000 | 78% | 93% | 90% | 118 |
| 50 | Leeds Trinity University Leeds |
£24,000 | 78% | 88% | 92% | 117 |
| 51 | University of Portsmouth Portsmouth |
£25,500 | 77% | 87% | 88% | 116 |
| 52 | London Metropolitan University London |
£31,000 | 66% | 98% | 100% | 114 |
| 53 | Solent University Southampton |
£27,000 | 71% | 88% | 88% | 111 |
| 53 | University of Chichester Chichester |
£27,000 | 80% | 98% | 96% | 111 |
| 54 | Aston University Birmingham |
£27,000 | 75% | 91% | 86% | 110 |
| 55 | University of Southampton Southampton |
£25,000 | 76% | 88% | 79% | 108 |
| 56 | University of Chester Chester |
£22,500 | 78% | 69% | 81% | 106 |
| 57 | University of Cumbria Carlisle |
£32,000 | 77% | 70% | 50% | 105 |
| 58 | Liverpool Hope University Liverpool |
£23,000 | 80% | 83% | 81% | 102 |
| 58 | Abertay University Dundee |
£26,000 | 72% | 88% | 86% | 102 |
| 59 | Middlesex University Middlesex |
£27,000 | 69% | 85% | 84% | 101 |
| 60 | University of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton |
£24,000 | 71% | 89% | 88% | 85 |
| 61 | University of Hull Hull |
£25,000 | 76% | 79% | 85% | 83 |
| 62 | City St George's, University of London London |
£25,500 | 67% | 80% | 83% | 81 |
| 63 | Teesside University Middlesbrough |
£20,000 | 78% | 81% | 83% | 80 |
| 64 | Goldsmiths, University of London London |
£28,000 | 64% | 84% | 61% | 71 |
| 65 | University of Roehampton London |
£27,000 | 72% | 60% | 75% | 61 |
| 66 | London South Bank University London |
£21,500 | 68% | 88% | 65% | 58 |
What the ranking tells you about studying sociology
Sociology is one of the most widely offered social science degrees in the UK, available at 86 universities in this ranking. The discipline covers social theory, research methods, inequalities, health and illness, crime and deviance, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, organisations and institutions, urban and rural social change, and global and transnational sociology. With such a broad field, programme specialisation, the quality of dissertation supervision, research methods training and employer engagement vary significantly. Sociology is one of the most transferable non-STEM degrees, consistently appearing in employer research as a degree that builds critical thinking, communication and analytical skills valued across sectors.
University of Birmingham at 43rd: 98% academic support, 96% teaching quality
University of Birmingham ranks 43rd with 131 points and achieves 98% academic support and 96% teaching quality — the strongest course delivery scores of any institution ranked below 10th in this 86-university field. Birmingham ranks 43rd because of very low safety and sustainability scores alongside below-average earnings and satisfaction. Its course delivery data is the most significant gap between ranking position and programme quality in this ranking. For students comparing Birmingham with institutions in the top 20 on course delivery specifically, only Swansea (100%/96%), Worcester (100%/100%), Reading (96%/96%) and Derby (96%/96%) produce stronger or equal academic support and teaching quality from higher positions. University of Surrey (joint 19th) also achieves 100% academic support with 95% teaching quality.
University of Cumbria at 57th: 50% academic support, £32,000 earnings
University of Cumbria ranks 57th with 105 points and achieves only 50% academic support — the lowest in this field. The next-lowest is Goldsmiths at 61% and London South Bank at 65%. Cumbria also achieves 70% teaching quality. Yet it produces £32,000 graduate earnings — the joint-highest in this field alongside LSE and Nottingham. This is the most unexpected data combination in this ranking: lowest academic support alongside joint-highest earnings. The £32,000 reflects graduate mobility to major urban centres after graduating from Carlisle rather than programme quality. The low academic support score is the primary concern for applicants.
100% academic support appears at seven institutions in this 86-university field: Swansea (1st), Worcester (2nd), University of Surrey (joint 19th), University of Wales Trinity Saint David (joint 20th), University of Suffolk (joint 44th), University of Westminster (joint 45th), University of Northampton (joint 47th) and London Metropolitan University (52nd). Worcester (2nd) also achieves 100% teaching quality — the only institution in this field to achieve 100% on both metrics. University of Chichester (joint 53rd) and London Metropolitan (52nd) achieve 98% teaching quality. For students comparing on course delivery quality across this large field, the seven institutions with 100% academic support and Worcester's 100%/100% provide a clear framework for shortlisting.
For a broader view of how these universities compare, see the Unifresher overall best universities ranking.
