City, UOL - 5th in London for career prospects (Guardian Uni Guide '24)

Top universities for Music and Performing Arts

Find the best universities to unlock your potential in Music and Performing Arts. Our rankings are calculated based on real student experience as well as levels of employment after graduation. Take a look and right the right uni for you!

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Music and Performing Arts Rankings

Scroll right to see all our ranking criteria

2024	UNIVERSITY	2024	SATISFACTION	REFLECTIONS	OUTCOMES	RESEARCH QUALITY
1st	Durham Uni Durham University View All Courses	1st	4.02 / 5	85 / 100	71 / 100	19.94
2nd	Uni of Surrey University of Surrey View All Courses	2nd	4.21 / 5	88 / 100	91 / 100	15.74
3rd	Uni of Leeds University of Leeds View All Courses	3rd	4.20 / 5	84 / 100	86 / 100	16.63
4th	York St John Uni York St John University View All Courses	4th	4.12 / 5	86 / 100	83 / 100	16.90
5th	Uni of Sheffield University of Sheffield View All Courses	5th	4.32 / 5	86 / 100	100 / 100	25.54
6th	Ulster Uni Ulster University View All Courses	6th	4.18 / 5	89 / 100	90 / 100	19.43
7th	Solent Uni Solent University View All Courses	7th	4.03 / 5	80 / 100	89 / 100	—
8th	Uni of Bolton University of Bolton View All Courses	8th	3.88 / 5	88 / 100	89 / 100	—
9th	Uni of Plymouth University of Plymouth View All Courses	9th	4.10 / 5	87 / 100	87 / 100	44.31
10th	Northumbria Uni Northumbria University View All Courses	10th	4.23 / 5	85 / 100	89 / 100	—
11th	Uni of Sunderland University of Sunderland View All Courses	11th	3.94 / 5	85 / 100	83 / 100	—
12th	Uni of Chester University of Chester View All Courses	12th	4.13 / 5	87 / 100	88 / 100	24.60
13th	Uni of Aberdeen University of Aberdeen View All Courses	13th	4.01 / 5	85 / 100	83 / 100	25.49
14th	Uni of Winchester University of Winchester View All Courses	14th	3.89 / 5	85 / 100	86 / 100	24.66
15th	Uni of Bristol University of Bristol View All Courses	15th	4.21 / 5	83 / 100	87 / 100	12.14
16th	Leeds Beckett Uni Leeds Beckett University View All Courses	16th	4.17 / 5	85 / 100	93 / 100	8.61
17th	Uni of Oxford University of Oxford View All Courses	17th	4.26 / 5	86 / 100	90 / 100	10.77
18th	Uni of Reading University of Reading View All Courses	18th	4.17 / 5	87 / 100	94 / 100	26.51
19th	Uni of Liverpool University of Liverpool View All Courses	19th	4.36 / 5	85 / 100	83 / 100	17.22
20th	Uni of Cambridge University of Cambridge View All Courses	20th	4.09 / 5	85 / 100	75 / 100	13.77
21st	Uni of Southampton University of Southampton View All Courses	21st	4.07 / 5	85 / 100	84 / 100	23.99
22nd	Bangor Uni Bangor University View All Courses	22nd	3.99 / 5	84 / 100	71 / 100	—
23rd	Cardiff Met Uni Cardiff Metropolitan University View All Courses	23rd	4.21 / 5	89 / 100	79 / 100	—
24th	Uni of Sussex University of Sussex View All Courses	24th	4.07 / 5	82 / 100	100 / 100	21.27
25th	Uni of York University of York View All Courses	25th	4.16 / 5	83 / 100	95 / 100	14.69
26th	Uni of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh View All Courses	26th	4.05 / 5	85 / 100	93 / 100	14.80
27th	Edge Hill Uni Edge Hill University View All Courses	27th	4.19 / 5	90 / 100	85 / 100	—
28th	Newcastle Uni Newcastle University View All Courses	28th	4.17 / 5	85 / 100	81 / 100	18.00
29th	Uni of Portsmouth University of Portsmouth View All Courses	29th	4.13 / 5	84 / 100	89 / 100	13.84
30th	Middlesex Uni Middlesex University View All Courses	30th	4.07 / 5	86 / 100	90 / 100	9.31
31st	Bournemouth Uni Bournemouth University View All Courses	31st	4.14 / 5	84 / 100	88 / 100	—
32nd	Uni of Lincoln University of Lincoln View All Courses	32nd	4.05 / 5	83 / 100	84 / 100	25.33
33rd	Manchester Met Uni Manchester Metropolitan University View All Courses	33rd	4.08 / 5	84 / 100	95 / 100	—
34th	Liverpool Hope Uni Liverpool Hope University View All Courses	34th	4.11 / 5	88 / 100	87 / 100	18.79
35th	Uni of Gloucestershire University of Gloucestershire View All Courses	35th	3.90 / 5	84 / 100	88 / 100	—
36th	Nottingham Trent Nottingham Trent University View All Courses	36th	4.32 / 5	83 / 100	92 / 100	—
37th	Cardiff Uni Cardiff University View All Courses	37th	4.23 / 5	86 / 100	100 / 100	18.31
38th	Uni of Hull University of Hull View All Courses	38th	3.98 / 5	87 / 100	100 / 100	15.65
39th	De Montfort De Montfort University (DMU) View All Courses	39th	4.06 / 5	82 / 100	88 / 100	8.75
40th	Uni of Bedfordshire University of Bedfordshire View All Courses	40th	3.72 / 5	86 / 100	87 / 100	—
41st	London Met Uni London Metropolitan University View All Courses	41st	3.82 / 5	82 / 100	81 / 100	—
42nd	Birmingham City Uni Birmingham City University View All Courses	42nd	4.08 / 5	85 / 100	88 / 100	10.57
43rd	Uni of Westminster University of Westminster View All Courses	43rd	3.93 / 5	82 / 100	87 / 100	—
44th	Uni of Brighton University of Brighton View All Courses	44th	3.92 / 5	86 / 100	93 / 100	—
45th	City UOL City, University of London View All Courses	45th	3.83 / 5	85 / 100	100 / 100	29.83
46th	Uni of Birmingham University of Birmingham View All Courses	46th	4.25 / 5	87 / 100	93 / 100	12.07
47th	Uni of Nottingham University of Nottingham View All Courses	47th	4.20 / 5	87 / 100	100 / 100	38.54
48th	Liverpool JM Liverpool John Moores University View All Courses	48th	4.28 / 5	86 / 100	86 / 100	—
49th	Uni of C.Lancashire University of Central Lancashire View All Courses	49th	4.03 / 5	85 / 100	83 / 100	18.17
50th	Edinburgh Napier Edinburgh Napier University View All Courses	50th	3.84 / 5	85 / 100	91 / 100	27.86
51st	Uni of Manchester The University of Manchester View All Courses	51st	3.91 / 5	85 / 100	89 / 100	23.93
52nd	Uni of Chichester University of Chichester View All Courses	52nd	3.84 / 5	86 / 100	91 / 100	14.15
53rd	Uni of Glasgow University of Glasgow View All Courses	53rd	4.12 / 5	85 / 100	86 / 100	25.86
54th	Brunel Uni London Brunel Uni, London View All Courses	54th	3.80 / 5	82 / 100	90 / 100	10.96
55th	Anglia Ruskin Uni Anglia Ruskin University ARU View All Courses	55th	4.20 / 5	86 / 100	89 / 100	41.82
56th	Uni of Greenwich University of Greenwich View All Courses	56th	4.01 / 5	84 / 100	87 / 100	—
57th	Canterbury Uni Canterbury Christ Church University View All Courses	57th	3.75 / 5	88 / 100	80 / 100	24.46
58th	Queens Uni Queen's University, Belfast View All Courses	58th	4.04 / 5	87 / 100	93 / 100	9.41
59th	Uni of Huddersfield University of Huddersfield View All Courses	59th	3.94 / 5	85 / 100	86 / 100	15.30
60th	Bath Spa Uni Bath Spa University View All Courses	60th	4.03 / 5	83 / 100	88 / 100	11.20
61st	Keele Uni Keele University View All Courses	61st	3.99 / 5	87 / 100	100 / 100	58.00
62nd	Uni of Hertfordshire University of Hertfordshire View All Courses	62nd	3.93 / 5	84 / 100	88 / 100	—
63rd	The Uni of Salford University of Salford View All Courses	63rd	4.03 / 5	84 / 100	88 / 100	17.76
64th	Uni of Derby University of Derby View All Courses	64th	3.91 / 5	86 / 100	90 / 100	—
65th	Staffordshire Uni Staffordshire University View All Courses	65th	3.98 / 5	87 / 100	86 / 100	—
66th	Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London View All Courses	66th	3.93 / 5	83 / 100	89 / 100	11.57
67th	Coventry Uni Coventry University View All Courses	67th	3.90 / 5	83 / 100	88 / 100	13.39
68th	Falmouth Uni Falmouth University View All Courses	68th	3.81 / 5	75 / 100	87 / 100	—
69th	Uni of Northampton University of Northampton View All Courses	69th	3.84 / 5	86 / 100	86 / 100	—
70th	Open Uni Open University View All Courses	70th	3.86 / 5	84 / 100	83 / 100	21.88
71st	Kingston Uni Kingston University View All Courses	71st	3.80 / 5	82 / 100	88 / 100	13.09
72nd	Uni of Worcester University of Worcester View All Courses	72nd	4.02 / 5	89 / 100	100 / 100	24.10
73rd	UWEBristol Bristol, University of the West of England (UWE) View All Courses	73rd	4.04 / 5	83 / 100	92 / 100	—
74th	USW University of South Wales View All Courses	74th	3.69 / 5	86 / 100	85 / 100	11.39
75th	Uni for Creative Arts University for the Creative Arts View All Courses	75th	3.42 / 5	74 / 100	85 / 100	—
76th	Brighton Institute Brighton Institute of Modern Music View All Courses	76th	3.49 / 5	76 / 100	88 / 100	—
77th	Queen Margaret Uni Queen Margaret University View All Courses	77th	3.44 / 5	88 / 100	93 / 100	—
78th	Newcastle College Newcastle College View All Courses	78th	3.38 / 5	82 / 100	90 / 100	—
79th	Goldsmiths, UOL Goldsmiths, University of London View All Courses	79th	3.67 / 5	83 / 100	90 / 100	10.18
80th	Teesside Uni Teesside University View All Courses	80th	3.69 / 5	88 / 100	85 / 100	—
81st	Uni of West London The University of West London View All Courses	81st	3.69 / 5	84 / 100	89 / 100	40.29
82nd	Bucks New Uni Buckinghamshire New University View All Courses	82nd	3.22 / 5	85 / 100	92 / 100	—
83rd	Uni of West Scotland University of the West of Scotland View All Courses	83rd	3.61 / 5	84 / 100	85 / 100	—
84th	Liverpool Institute The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts View All Courses	84th	2.90 / 5	79 / 100	92 / 100	—
85th	Bedford Bedford College View All Courses	85th	3.09 / 5	90 / 100	78 / 100	—
86th	Northern College of Music Royal Northern College of Music View All Courses	86th	3.08 / 5	91 / 100	93 / 100	14.07
87th	Bradford College Bradford College View All Courses	87th	3.10 / 5	84 / 100	50 / 100	—
88th	UWTSD University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) View All Courses	88th	2.83 / 5	82 / 100	84 / 100	—
89th	Uni of East London University of East London View All Courses	89th	3.67 / 5	85 / 100	84 / 100	17.62

Our rankings only include universities that have reached our threshold of submitted student reviews. To find out more, please visit our rankings about page.

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