World Higher Education IndexGlobal university & programme rankings

Subject ranking — 2026 edition

Best UK Computer Science Degrees

Computing departments are scored on where their graduates are hired, the depth of their research groups and how selective admission has become as applications climb.

University of Cambridge is ranked first in the 2026 best uk computer science degrees, with an overall score of 97.4 out of 100. Imperial College London is second and University of Oxford third. 10 institutions are ranked in this edition.

Published

Outcomes 30%Salary 20%Faculty 15%Selectivity 15%Employers 10%Network 10%
  1. 1

    University of Cambridge

    Cambridge

    Outcomes97
    Salary96
    Faculty99
    Selectivity99
    Employers97
    Network91
    97.4
    Score
  2. 2

    Imperial College London

    London

    Outcomes97
    Salary96
    Faculty96
    Selectivity96
    Employers96
    Network93
    96.1
    Score
  3. 3

    University of Oxford

    Oxford

    Outcomes96
    Salary95
    Faculty98
    Selectivity99
    Employers96
    Network89
    95.8
    Score
  4. 4

    University College London

    London

    Outcomes92
    Salary92
    Faculty93
    Selectivity89
    Employers90
    Network90
    91.0
    Score
  5. 5

    University of Edinburgh

    Edinburgh

    Outcomes89
    Salary87
    Faculty94
    Selectivity88
    Employers90
    Network89
    89.7
    Score
  6. 6

    University of Manchester

    Manchester

    Outcomes85
    Salary83
    Faculty87
    Selectivity82
    Employers85
    Network83
    84.2
    Score
  7. 7

    University of Southampton

    Southampton

    Outcomes82
    Salary80
    Faculty85
    Selectivity79
    Employers82
    Network80
    81.6
    Score
  8. 8

    University of Warwick

    Coventry

    Outcomes83
    Salary82
    Faculty80
    Selectivity82
    Employers81
    Network77
    81.0
    Score
  9. 9

    University of Bristol

    Bristol

    Outcomes80
    Salary80
    Faculty81
    Selectivity79
    Employers79
    Network76
    79.5
    Score
  10. 10

    University of Glasgow

    Glasgow

    Outcomes77
    Salary75
    Faculty80
    Selectivity76
    Employers78
    Network78
    77.3
    Score

UK Computer Science 2026: frequently asked questions

Which institution is number one in the 2026 uk computer science ranking?
University of Cambridge, based in Cambridge, ranks first with an overall score of 97.4 out of 100.
How is this ranking calculated?
Every entry is scored on the same six weighted indicators — Graduate outcomes (30%), Salary uplift (20%), Faculty & research strength (15%), Selectivity (15%), Employer reputation (10%), Cohort & network reach (10%) — each normalised across the table and combined into an overall score out of 100. Nothing is reweighted table by table.
How many institutions are ranked, and how often is the table updated?
10 institutions appear in the 2026 edition. A new edition is published every year on 30 September, with all six indicators re-collected for that edition.
Can an institution pay to appear or move up?
No. No institution pays to be assessed, to appear in a table, or to change its position, and no score is shown to an institution before publication.

Related rankings

Scored on the composite set out in our methodology. See also all rankings.