CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY has topped The Guardian’s 2025 league table for chemical engineering for the second year in a row.
The guide ranks UK university subjects by eight metrics and uses them to produce a total score out of 100. Cambridge topped the overall chart for chemical engineering with a maximum score, followed by Bath (74.2), Aston (71.9), Nottingham (70.4), and Imperial (69.5).
The interactive tables allow users to rank university subject areas using any of the eight individual metrics.
For example, if a student wanted to rank chemical engineering courses by how satisfied final-year students are with their teaching, Heriot-Watt is ahead, followed by Cambridge and Imperial.
If you place a premium on small class sizes, then ranking universities by student to staff ratio puts Huddersfield in top spot with 9.5 students per staff member compared to bottom-placed Bradford which has the largest disparity of 21 students per staff member.
The institutions with the highest percentage of graduates who find a graduate level job or are in further study within 15 months of graduation are Bath, Loughborough, and Edinburgh, all on 95%.
The Guardian’s 2025 rankings are available here.
There are various institutions that rank chemical engineering courses, each with their own set of criteria. Earlier this year, an international analysis by QS put MIT top. Cambridge was the highest-ranked UK university for chemical engineering, placing fourth.
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