University of St Andrews scoops top accolade

The accolade comes from The Times and The Sunday Times’ Good University Guide.

It is the second time it has scooped the UK national award in the past 20 years.

It also came within a whisker of breaking the Oxbridge duopoly at the top of the rankings – finishing just 18 points shy of Oxford in this year’s table. The gap was 73 points in 2018.

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Professor Sally Mapstone, principal and vice-chancellor, welcomed the award.

She said: “Our students see they are going to a university that delivers a high-quality experience all round – high-quality teaching in small groups from tutors who know them and understand their learning trajectory and wider career trajectory.”

Alastair McCall, editor of The Sunday Times Good University Guide, said: “St Andrews fully deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Cambridge and Oxford when we talk about the very best that British higher education can offer. The league table proves it, but more importantly, so do its students, who consistently rate St Andrews the best university for teaching quality.

“It combines strength in traditional areas of study with cutting edge centres of excellence, such as Europe’s first Centre for Syrian Studies and an Institute of Iranian Studies. Its reputation draws students from across the world to a small town on the Fife coast. When they graduate, they fan back out across the globe and become the university’s greatest ambassadors.”