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Methodology

How the CO Ranking 2027 is built

100 UK universities, 12 metrics, 5 pillars. Every data source is publicly verifiable. The full computation script and dataset are published under CC-BY 4.0.

Scope and eligibility

The ranking covers UK higher education institutions with degree-awarding powers. To enter the ranked cohort an institution must hold a UKVI Student Sponsor Licence (A-rated, B-rated, or legacy as of 31 March 2027), enrol at least 1,000 students, and have at least 3 of the 5 pillars covered by Discover Uni or HESA data. 136 institutions met the eligibility criteria in the 2027 cohort; the top 100 are ranked.

Pillars and metrics

1. Academic quality

25%
Research quality (REF 2021)
Institution-wide weighted average of 4★ + 3★ research output, weighted by FTE staff submitted.
10%
Continuation rate
Proportion of first-year undergraduates continuing to year 2, from Discover Uni.
6%
TEF Outcome rating
Office for Students Teaching Excellence Framework. Gold = 1.0, Silver = 0.66, Bronze = 0.33.
5%
Entry tariff
Population-weighted UCAS tariff points of entrants, proxy for academic attainment.
4%

2. Student outcomes

25%
Graduate salary (3-year LEO)
HMRC-linked median earnings 3 years after graduation. Population-weighted across all courses.
12%
Meaningful employment
Percentage in work, study, or both 15 months after graduation. Graduate Outcomes survey.
8%
Salary uplift vs UK age cohort
Graduate salary minus UK median for comparable age cohort. Controls for baseline earnings growth.
5%

3. Student experience

20%
National Student Survey overall satisfaction
Population-weighted average across 26 NSS questions covering teaching, feedback, support, resources, and student voice.
20%

4. Value for money

15%
Scholarship availability density
Number of scholarships (each ≥ £500) per 1,000 enrolled students. CourseOptions commits to consistent indexing across the top 100 by 1 January 2027.
12%
Institutional scale
Total enrolment. Small positive weight for per-£ support infrastructure efficiency.
3%

5. Global reach

15%
International student share
Percentage of total enrolment from outside the UK.
10%
Nationality diversity (HHI)
1 minus the sum of squared shares of international students by country. Higher means a more evenly spread origin mix.
5%

Calculation method

  1. Each metric is z-score normalised across the eligible cohort. Z-scores are winsorised at ±3 to limit outlier influence.
  2. Within each pillar, metric z-scores are combined as a weighted average using the metric weights above.
  3. The composite is the weighted sum of pillar scores using the pillar weights (25/25/20/15/15).
  4. Composites are linear-transformed onto a 0–100 CO Score scale, with 100 anchored to the top institution and 50 to the 5th percentile.
  5. Institutions are ranked from highest to lowest composite. Unique ranks are assigned (no banded ties). Where composites are equal to the available precision, alphabetical name breaks the tie.

Data sources

  • Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF 2021)
  • Discover Uni Key Information Set 2024/25 — CONTINUATION, TEF Outcome, TARIFF, EMPLOYMENT, LEO3, NSS
  • HESA Open Data publications
  • National Student Survey 2024 (Q1–Q26)
  • Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) 3-year tax-linked earnings data
  • UKVI Register of Licensed Sponsors

Right of reply

The 2027 CO Ranking was released on 29 June 2027. Institutions included in this edition have until 29 July 2027 — thirty days from the release date — to submit a correction, raise a data dispute, or contest a methodology decision. Corrections backed by source data will be applied to the live ranking page during this window; disputes that cannot be resolved will be noted on the institution's detail page on courseoptions.com.

For all future editions, each ranked institution receives its preliminary CO Score and pillar breakdown thirty days before publication. During that window an institution may submit a correction, raise a data dispute, or contest a methodology decision. Corrections backed by source data are applied before publication. Disputes that cannot be resolved before publication are noted on the institution's detail page on courseoptions.com.

To raise a query for either the current edition or a future edition, write to rankings@courseoptions.com.

Data freeze 31 Mar 2027 · Published 29 Jun 2027 · Licence CC-BY 4.0