Published today [10 June], the Complete University Guide 2026 highlights a broad range of courses offered at Bristol, from physics and astronomy and politics to chemistry and computer science.
Bristol’s Engineering courses have ranked highlight in the Guide, with Engineering Design coming 1st in the UK, Aerospace Engineering coming 3rd, and Mechanical Engineering 4th.
Other highly ranked subjects include Social Policy, Education, Music at 3rd, German at 4th; and Dentistry, Theology and Religious Studies and Mathematics at 6th.
The full list of Bristol subjects ranked in the top 10 are:
- General Engineering — 1st (known as Engineering Design and Engineering Mathematics at Bristol)
- Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering — 3rd
- Social Policy — 3rd
- Education — 3rd
- Music — 3rd
- Mechanical Engineering — 4th
- German — 4th
- Dentistry — 6th
- Theology and Religious Studies — 6th
- Mathematics — 6th
- French — 7th
- Law — 7th
- Social Work — 7th
- Russian and East European Languages — 8th
- Sociology — 8th
- Veterinary Medicine — 8th
- Chemistry — 8th
- Civil Engineering — 8th
- Computer Science — 8th
- Medicine — 8th
- History of Art, Architecture and Design — 8th
- Physics and Astronomy — 8th
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering — 9th
- Politics — 10th
- Business and Management Studies — 10th
- Biological Sciences — 10th
- History — 10th
Professor Evelyn Welch, the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, said: “It is fantastic to see the variety of Bristol subjects included in this year’s Complete University Guide, and that General Engineering and Social Policy feature so highly in the subject rankings.
“Our students are some of the most talented in the world and our staff work exceptionally hard to give them an outstanding university education.”
Overall, the Guide ranked Bristol as the 15th best university in the UK. Other surveys by QS and Times Higher Education rank Bristol as the ninth best in the UK.
Professor Amanda Chetwynd, Chair of the Complete University Guide Advisory Board, said: “Our methodology draws on a range of trusted, independent measures that reflect the factors students care most about, including teaching quality, student satisfaction and graduate outcomes. The close competition within the top 20 highlights the consistently high standards across UK higher education.”
To find the 74 subject data, the guide surveyed 155 universities, university colleges and specialist higher education institutions on: Entry Standards, Student Satisfaction, Research Quality, Continuation and Graduate Prospects.
To find the overall university data, it surveyed 130 universities on: Entry Standards, Student Satisfaction, Research Quality, Research Intensity, Graduate Prospects, Student-Staff Ratio, Spending on Academic Services, Spending on Student Facilities and Continuation (the proportion of students who continue in their studies after their first year).