Best Universities for Statistics in the UK 2027
Durham University tops our 2027 statistics ranking with 94 points, achieving 88% academic support and 93% teaching quality. University of Plymouth and Lancaster University are joint second with 87 points each — Plymouth achieves 98% academic support and Lancaster 97%. We ranked 27 UK universities offering statistics degrees across eight metrics: graduate earnings, teaching quality, student satisfaction, academic support, safety, cost of living, social life and sustainability. One partial entry (University of West London) was excluded due to missing data.
Imperial College London (19th, last) produces £52,000 — the highest graduate earnings in this field by £10,500 and the highest six-month earnings figure in the entire Unifresher subject ranking series. UCL (6th) produces £41,500. Warwick (7th) and LSE (18th) produce £38,000. LSE (18th) has the lowest academic support at 76% and lowest teaching quality at 76% — both the lowest in this field. Statistics is a small field and all 27 universities are shown in full below.
For how these universities compare across all subjects, see the Unifresher best universities overall ranking and our best universities for employability.
Statistics University Rankings 2027
| # | University | Grad Earnings | Satisfaction | Teaching Quality | Academic Support | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durham University Durham |
£31,500 | 78% | 93% | 88% | 94 |
| 2 | University of Plymouth Plymouth |
£30,000 | 75% | 86% | 98% | 87 |
| 2 | Lancaster University Lancaster |
£31,000 | 82% | 91% | 97% | 87 |
| 3 | University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich |
£28,500 | 79% | 84% | 98% | 83 |
| 4 | Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne |
£28,500 | 75% | 92% | 92% | 82 |
| 4 | Keele University Newcastle-under-Lyme |
£28,000 | 81% | 92% | 95% | 82 |
| 5 | University of Reading Reading |
£30,000 | 74% | 86% | 96% | 81 |
| 6 | UCL (University College London) London |
£41,500 | 68% | 97% | 97% | 76 |
| 7 | University of Warwick Coventry |
£38,000 | 74% | 90% | 95% | 75 |
| 8 | Nottingham Trent University Nottingham |
£25,500 | 76% | 88% | 90% | 74 |
| 8 | University of Manchester Manchester |
£30,000 | 70% | 91% | 91% | 74 |
| 9 | University of Bath Bath |
£35,000 | 80% | 84% | 93% | 73 |
| 10 | University of Leeds Leeds |
£28,000 | 74% | 85% | 85% | 70 |
| 11 | University of Liverpool Liverpool |
£27,000 | 71% | 82% | 88% | 68 |
| 12 | King's College London London |
£35,000 | 67% | 89% | 89% | 64 |
| 12 | University of Birmingham Birmingham |
£32,500 | 72% | 92% | 93% | 64 |
| 13 | University of York York |
£30,000 | 77% | 88% | 80% | 63 |
| 13 | Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh |
£33,000 | 75% | 91% | 93% | 63 |
| 13 | University of Strathclyde Glasgow |
£30,000 | 75% | 92% | 91% | 63 |
| 14 | Royal Holloway, University of London Egham |
£31,000 | 74% | 84% | 85% | 61 |
| 15 | University of Glasgow Glasgow |
£30,500 | 75% | 82% | 91% | 60 |
| 15 | University of Portsmouth Portsmouth |
£25,000 | 77% | 90% | 95% | 60 |
| 16 | University of Southampton Southampton |
£33,000 | 76% | 88% | 88% | 59 |
| 16 | University of Edinburgh Edinburgh |
£33,000 | 74% | 81% | 81% | 56 |
| 17 | Queen Mary University of London London |
£30,000 | 69% | 91% | 91% | 55 |
| 18 | London School of Economics and Political Science London |
£38,000 | 69% | 76% | 76% | 53 |
| 19 | Imperial College London London |
£52,000 | 66% | 80% | 80% | 38 |
What the ranking tells you about studying statistics
Statistics is one of the smallest and most technically demanding undergraduate degree fields in the UK, offered at just 27 universities. The discipline covers probability theory, statistical inference, regression and modelling, time series analysis, Bayesian statistics, computational statistics, data visualisation and research methods. The degree is mathematically intensive and sits at the foundation of data science, actuarial science, biostatistics, quantitative finance and machine learning. With only 27 programmes, applicants are effectively comparing every institution in this table directly.
Imperial College London at 19th: £52,000 — the highest earnings in the Unifresher ranking series
Imperial College London ranks 19th (last) with 38 points and produces statistics graduates earning £52,000 — the highest six-month graduate earnings figure in the entire Unifresher 2027 subject ranking series across all subjects. Imperial ranks 19th because London's maximum cost of living penalty (rank 1 of 19), very low safety rank and lowest satisfaction in the field (66%) all suppress the position. Its 80% academic support and 80% teaching quality are the second-lowest in this field. Imperial statistics graduates enter premium roles in quantitative finance, actuarial science, data science and technology at earnings that reflect both the institution’s employer connections and the exceptional labour market demand for quantitative statisticians. For students specifically targeting earnings, no statistics programme in the UK produces comparable six-month outcomes. The ranking position reflects city-level metrics and student experience measures, not graduate employment quality.
LSE at 18th: £38,000 but lowest course delivery scores in the field
London School of Economics ranks 18th with 53 points and produces £38,000 — tied with Warwick for the second-highest earnings in the field. Yet it achieves 76% on both academic support and teaching quality — the lowest in this 27-university field. The next-lowest academic support is University of York at 80% and the next-lowest teaching quality is University of Liverpool at 82%. LSE ranks 18th because London's cost of living penalty suppresses the position alongside its course delivery scores. For students weighing LSE’s employer access and earnings against its course delivery data, the comparison with UCL is the most relevant: UCL (6th) achieves £41,500, 97% teaching quality and 97% academic support from a much stronger overall position. The data makes UCL a more compelling offer on nearly every measured metric in this field.
University of Plymouth (joint 2nd) and University of East Anglia (3rd) both achieve 98% academic support — the highest in this 27-university field. Lancaster (joint 2nd) achieves 97% academic support alongside 91% teaching quality and 82% satisfaction — the highest satisfaction score in the top five. UCL (6th) achieves 97% on both academic support and teaching quality while producing £41,500 earnings. For students comparing the top of this field by course delivery, Plymouth, UEA and Lancaster are the three strongest-measured programmes on academic support. UCL’s 97%/97% at a higher earnings level makes it the most compelling single data point for applicants who want strong course delivery and premium earnings in combination.
For a broader view of how these universities compare, see the Unifresher overall best universities ranking.
