St Mary’s University, Twickenham (SMU), has continued to climb up the league tables, moving up 14 places in the 2025 Complete University Guide.
SMU is the third highest riser in the league table sitting 72nd nationally. The University has also seen significant improvements in the Guardian University Guide, climbing 28 places in the past two years.
The news follows SMU climbing into the top 50 of the Good University Guide in the 2024 edition. The University’s position of 45th overall, fourth amongst modern universities, and eighth in London, are its highest ever positions in that league table. The Good University Guide also rated SMU in the top five for Teaching Quality and top ten for Student Experience.
Speaking of the performance, St Mary’s Vice-Chancellor Anthony McClaran said, “I am delighted to see St Mary’s go from strength to strength in all of the major league tables. These results are the consequence of careful planning and the hard work of staff to ensure the best experience and outcomes for our students. Excellence is a core value for SMU, and rising steeply across all league tables in recent years is a demonstration of this value in practice.”
Prof Symeon Dagkas, Provost at St Mary’s, added, “I would like to thank colleagues across the University for their contributions to enhancing student success which contributes to the success in the recent league tables. I look forward to progressing our work and continuing to make improvements across the University as we celebrate future successes in various league tables.”
The Complete University Guide is one of the biggest national university league tables, ranking UK universities on a range of key measures that include graduate prospects, student satisfaction, research quality, and entry requirements.
Students at SMU also continue to rate their experience at the University highly, as it received outstanding feedback from graduating students in the 2023 National Student Survey (NSS). SMU was rated in the top five in London, and top 20 nationally, in six key themes amongst higher education providers with university status (excluding specialist providers).
The University was rated top in London for Academic Support, with a rating of 89%, and second in London for Teaching on my Course, with a rating of 88%; almost three percent above the sector average.
The University was also the highest riser in the Times Higher Education Research Excellence Rankings, climbing 32 places since the previous edition. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, the majority of research submitted by St Mary’s was 4* World Leading or 3* Internationally Excellent in its originality, significance, and rigour. The University more than doubled its research rated by the REF in the top two three- and four-star classifications as compared to the previous research exercise in 2014.