Which universities are the easiest to get into?
New UCAS data shows that some universities offer places to over 90% of those who apply – but less than a fifth of Oxford applicants get an offer.
Credit: Madrugada Verde (background), Dean Drobot (left), Antonio Guillem (right) – Shutterstock
Some universities are more difficult to get into than others. Places at Oxford and Cambridge are famously competitive. The lower you go in the university league tables, the easier it gets. Or so you might think.
We've crunched the numbers to reveal the percentage of students who receive an offer after applying to each university in the UK, proving once and for all which unis are the toughest nuts to crack.
Use the list and table below to see the acceptance rate for each uni. There are some surprises in there...
Easiest UK universities to get into
Based on the percentage of students who apply to each university and receive an offer, these are the easiest universities to get into:
- Royal Agricultural University (96%)
- Solent University, Southampton (96%)
- Lincoln Bishop University (95%)
- University for the Creative Arts (94%)
- University of Kent (93%)
- The University of Law (93%)
- Medway School of Pharmacy (92%)
- University of Winchester (92%)
- SOAS, University of London (92%)
- University of Derby (92%)
- Nottingham Trent University (91%)
- Northumbria University (91%)
- University of Sussex (91%)
- Coventry University (90%)
- De Montfort University (90%)
- University of East London (90%)
- Harper Adams University (89%)
- Liverpool John Moores University (89%)
- Royal Holloway, University of London (89%)
- Heriot-Watt University (89%).
In total, 16 unis offer places to 90% or more of all applicants.
Hardest UK universities to get into
Once again, based on the percentage of offers made compared to the number of applications received, these are the hardest universities to get into in the UK:
- Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London (12%)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (16%)
- University of Oxford (16%)
- Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (18%)
- Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (19%)
- University of Cambridge (21%)
- Rose Bruford College (24%)
- Imperial College London (25%)
- University of St Andrews (40%)
- Glasgow School of Art (41%)
- St George's, University of London (41%)
- Royal Veterinary College, University of London (41%)
- Wrexham University (44%)
- University College London (UCL) (44%)
- University of the Arts London (47%)
- King's College London (51%)
- The University of Edinburgh (52%)
- University of Buckingham (53%)
- Leeds Arts University (57%)
- University of Strathclyde (58%)
Something which won't surprise anyone is that Oxford and Cambridge are in the top six most difficult unis to get into. In fact, Oxford offers places to less than one-fifth of those who apply.
But it may reassure you to know that beyond Oxbridge, some of the best unis in the UK offer places to over a third of their applicants. Imperial College London, for instance, has an acceptance rate of 40%.
University acceptance rates
Credit: Pajor Pawel - Shutterstock
Of course, university admissions are also hugely affected by reputation. The more popular it is, the more applications it will receive. The more applications it receives, the fewer places there are to hand out, and hence the acceptance rate is lower. It's not all about great A Level grades and entry requirements.
In some cases, offer rates are low because unis have a limited number of places or cater to a niche subject area. This is likely to be true of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and Rose Bruford College (three of only a few specialist performing arts universities in the UK). It may also apply to St George's, University of London, which is exclusively a medical school.
But some of the best and most prestigious universities in the UK have higher offer rates than you'd expect. Loughborough offers places to over 70% of those who apply, while Bath offers places to over 60% of applicants.
Taking all universities into consideration, the average acceptance rate is 73%. But feel free to use the table below to see how each university compares.
This data shows the acceptance rates for undergraduate applications starting September 2025 across all age groups (not just 18-year-olds).
Full list of UK university acceptance rates
| Rank | University | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London | 12% |
| 2 | London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | 16% |
| 3 | University of Oxford | 16% |
| 4 | Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts | 18% |
| 5 | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland | 19% |
| 6 | University of Cambridge | 21% |
| 7 | Rose Bruford College | 24% |
| 8 | Imperial College London | 25% |
| 9 | University of St Andrews | 40% |
| 10 | Glasgow School of Art | 41% |
| 11 | St George's (City St George's, University of London) | 41% |
| 12 | Royal Veterinary College, University of London | 42% |
| 13 | Wrexham University | 44% |
| 14 | UCL (University College London) | 44% |
| 15 | University of the Arts London | 47% |
| 16 | King's College London | 51% |
| 17 | The University of Edinburgh | 52% |
| 18 | University of Buckingham | 53% |
| 19 | Leeds Arts University | 57% |
| 20 | University of Strathclyde | 58% |
| 21 | University of Suffolk | 59% |
| 22 | London South Bank University | 62% |
| 23 | University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) | 63% |
| 24 | University of Manchester | 63% |
| 25 | City St George's, University of London | 64% |
| 26 | University of Bath | 65% |
| 27 | University of Sunderland | 65% |
| 28 | University of Dundee | 65% |
| 29 | Queen Mary, University of London | 66% |
| 30 | University of Chichester | 66% |
| 31 | Glasgow Caledonian University | 66% |
| 32 | University of Leeds | 67% |
| 33 | University of Lancashire | 67% |
| 34 | Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh | 67% |
| 35 | University of Hertfordshire | 68% |
| 36 | Keele University | 68% |
| 37 | Middlesex University | 69% |
| 38 | University of Glasgow | 69% |
| 39 | University of Chester | 69% |
| 40 | University of Surrey | 69% |
| 41 | Falmouth University | 70% |
| 42 | University of West London | 70% |
| 43 | University of Bedfordshire | 71% |
| 44 | University of Plymouth | 72% |
| 45 | University of Bristol | 72% |
| 46 | Loughborough University | 72% |
| 47 | University of Liverpool | 72% |
| 48 | Cardiff University | 73% |
| 49 | University of Leicester | 73% |
| 50 | Queen's University Belfast | 73% |
| 51 | University of Birmingham | 73% |
| 52 | University of Greater Manchester | 73% |
| 53 | Edinburgh Napier University | 74% |
| 54 | Swansea University | 74% |
| 55 | Robert Gordon University | 74% |
| 56 | Teesside University | 74% |
| 57 | University of Nottingham | 74% |
| 58 | University of Salford | 75% |
| 59 | Plymouth Marjon University | 75% |
| 60 | Aston University | 75% |
| 61 | Sheffield Hallam University | 75% |
| 62 | Bangor University | 75% |
| 63 | University of Sheffield | 75% |
| 64 | Brunel University of London | 76% |
| 65 | University of the West of Scotland | 76% |
| 66 | University of Wolverhampton | 76% |
| 67 | University of Hull | 77% |
| 68 | University of Wales Trinity Saint David | 77% |
| 69 | Leeds Trinity University | 77% |
| 70 | Buckinghamshire New University | 77% |
| 71 | Goldsmiths, University of London | 78% |
| 72 | Newcastle University | 78% |
| 73 | University College Birmingham | 78% |
| 74 | Durham University | 78% |
| 75 | University of Worcester | 78% |
| 76 | Birmingham City University | 78% |
| 77 | University of Warwick | 79% |
| 78 | Norwich University of the Arts | 79% |
| 79 | Bath Spa University | 79% |
| 80 | University of the West of England, Bristol | 79% |
| 81 | University of East Anglia (UEA) | 79% |
| 82 | University of Southampton | 80% |
| 83 | Manchester Metropolitan University | 80% |
| 84 | University of Aberdeen | 80% |
| 85 | University of Portsmouth | 80% |
| 86 | University of Stirling | 81% |
| 87 | University of Huddersfield | 81% |
| 88 | University of Cumbria | 82% |
| 89 | Ulster University | 82% |
| 90 | University of South Wales | 82% |
| 91 | York St John University | 82% |
| 92 | Anglia Ruskin University | 82% |
| 93 | University of Roehampton | 83% |
| 94 | University of Westminster, London | 83% |
| 95 | University of Essex | 83% |
| 96 | Canterbury Christ Church University | 83% |
| 97 | University of Staffordshire | 83% |
| 98 | Leeds Beckett University | 83% |
| 99 | University of Bradford | 83% |
| 100 | University of Brighton | 83% |
| 101 | Kingston University | 84% |
| 102 | Liverpool Hope University | 84% |
| 103 | Edge Hill University | 85% |
| 104 | University of Northampton | 85% |
| 105 | Ravensbourne University London | 85% |
| 106 | Birkbeck, University of London | 85% |
| 107 | Aberystwyth University | 86% |
| 108 | University of Lincoln | 86% |
| 109 | Birmingham Newman University | 86% |
| 110 | University of Greenwich | 87% |
| 111 | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 87% |
| 112 | University of York | 87% |
| 113 | Oxford Brookes University | 87% |
| 114 | Bournemouth University | 87% |
| 115 | University of Reading | 87% |
| 116 | Abertay University | 87% |
| 117 | St Mary's University, Twickenham | 87% |
| 118 | Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London | 87% |
| 119 | Lancaster University | 87% |
| 120 | London Metropolitan University | 87% |
| 121 | University of Exeter | 88% |
| 122 | University of Gloucestershire | 88% |
| 123 | Arts University Bournemouth | 88% |
| 124 | Heriot-Watt University | 89% |
| 125 | Royal Holloway, University of London | 89% |
| 126 | Liverpool John Moores University | 89% |
| 127 | Harper Adams University | 89% |
| 128 | University of East London | 90% |
| 129 | De Montfort University | 90% |
| 130 | Coventry University | 90% |
| 131 | University of Sussex | 91% |
| 132 | Northumbria University, Newcastle | 91% |
| 133 | Nottingham Trent University | 91% |
| 134 | University of Derby | 92% |
| 135 | SOAS, University of London | 92% |
| 136 | University of Winchester | 92% |
| 137 | Medway School of Pharmacy | 92% |
| 138 | The University of Law | 93% |
| 139 | University of Kent | 93% |
| 140 | University for the Creative Arts | 94% |
| 141 | Lincoln Bishop University | 95% |
| 142 | Southampton Solent University | 96% |
| 143 | Royal Agricultural University | 96% |
Going to uni isn't all about the money. But we'd be lying if we said it wasn't a factor – so check out the graduate salary for your subject.
