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Top universities for chemistry in the UK: the Be Wise ranking
5 UK universities and colleges ranked for chemistry on official data.
Providers need at least 50 survey responses in chemistry to appear in the table. Student experience is the average share of final-year students giving positive answers across the seven National Student Survey themes. Earnings are medians five years after graduating, compared with the UK average for chemistry.
The table
| Position | University or college | Score out of 100 | Student experience | Continuation | Graduate prospects | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCL (University College London)London, England | 100.0 | 88.5% | 82.1% | 75.2% | £55,60041% above the UK average for this subject |
| 2 | University of WarwickWarwick and Leamington Spa, England | 85.4 | 89.0% | 81.4% | 82.6% | £43,90011% above the UK average for this subject |
| 3 | University of ManchesterManchester, England | 34.8 | 84.0% | 82.2% | 84.1% | £36,6007% below the UK average for this subject |
| 4 | Queen Mary University of LondonLondon, England | 23.3 | 81.1% | 87.0% | 64.4% | £41,5005% above the UK average for this subject |
| 5 | Cardiff UniversityCardiff, Wales | 0.0 | 83.6% | 83.9% | 64.5% | £37,3005% below the UK average for this subject |
Sources: National Student Survey 2026, Office for Students (Open Government Licence v3.0), first degree, full-time, by teaching provider; LEO graduate outcomes, tax year 2023-24, Department for Education (Open Government Licence v3.0), median earnings five years after graduating; Discover Uni dataset, 8 September 2026 edition, HESA (CC BY 4.0), continuation and graduate prospects. All sources and licences.
Not enough data (55)
These providers teach chemistry but have fewer than 50 survey responses in the subject or too few published measures to include fairly. This says nothing about their quality. Discover Uni has their course-level data.
Aston University; Bangor University; De Montfort University; Durham University; Heriot-Watt University; Imperial College London; Keele University; King's College London; Kingston University; Lancaster University; Liverpool John Moores University; Loughborough University; Manchester Metropolitan University; Newcastle University; Northumbria University; Nottingham Trent University; Queen's University Belfast; Sheffield Hallam University; Swansea University; Teesside University; University of Aberdeen; University of Bath; University of Bedfordshire; University of Birmingham; University of Bradford; University of Brighton; University of Bristol; University of Cambridge; University of East Anglia; University of East London; University of Edinburgh; University of Glasgow; University of Huddersfield; University of Hull; University of Kent; University of Lancashire; University of Leeds; University of Leicester; University of Lincoln; University of Liverpool; University of Nottingham; University of Oxford; University of Plymouth; University of Reading; University of Salford; University of Sheffield; University of Southampton; University of St Andrews; University of Strathclyde; University of Sunderland; University of Surrey; University of Sussex; University of York; University of the Arts, London; University of the West of Scotland
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Quick answers
Which universities have the highest student satisfaction for chemistry?
In the 2026 National Student Survey, the highest average positive scores for chemistry among providers with at least 50 responses were University of Warwick (89.0%), UCL (University College London) (88.5%), University of Manchester (84.0%), Cardiff University (83.6%), Queen Mary University of London (81.1%). This is one measure; the full table also shows graduate earnings.
How much do chemistry graduates earn?
Across UK providers, the typical (median) earnings of chemistry graduates five years after graduating were £39,400 in the 2023-24 tax year, according to the Department for Education's LEO data. Earnings vary a lot by university, region and job.
How is this chemistry table put together?
It uses only official data: the National Student Survey 2026, Discover Uni and LEO earnings. We do not copy commercial league tables. Universities with too little data are listed as not enough data rather than guessed.