Rankings and league tables

Every year we are ranked in the Guardian University Guide, The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide and the Complete University Guide. We are also included in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and the prestigious QS Stars international rankings. Below is a summary of our current rankings.

The Guardian Guide 2019

A top 5 UK university for:

  • Film Production & Photography (5th of 67)

A top 10 UK modern university for:
  • Engineering: Civil (10th of 24)
  • English and Creative Writing (7th of 48)
  • Film Production & Photography (4th of 43)
  • Hospitality, Event Management & Tourism (10th of 38)
  • Law (6th of 49)
  • Media & Film Studies (8th of 53)
  • Modern Languages & Linguistics (6th of 15)

The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018

The top modern university in the UK for:

  • English (1st of 49)
  • Drama, Dance and Cinematics (1st of 25)

A top 20 UK modern university for:
  • Civil Engineering (4th of 24)
  • Music (6th of 38)
  • Art and Design (14th of 53)
  • Building (9th of 25)
  • Communication and Media Studies (16th of 53)
  • Criminology (11th of 38)
  • Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation and Tourism (14th of 45)
  • Sociology (13th of 48)

Complete University Guide 2019

A top 10 UK university for:
  • Drama, Dance & Cinematics (10th of 102)

Top modern university in the UK for:

  • Drama, Dance & Cinematics (1st of 56)
  • English (1st of 49)

A top 10 UK modern university for:

  • Business & Management Studies (8th of 58)
  • Civil Engineering (7th of 25)
  • Communication & Media Studies (3rd of 55)
  • Marketing (9th of 47)
  • Music (5th of 37)
  • Sociology (10th of 49)
  • Building (3rd of 27)

Times Higher Education ranks Edinburgh Napier in top 5% of world universities

Edinburgh Napier appeared in the THE World University Rankings for the first time in 2017 and maintained our position in the 2018 table, putting us in the world's top 5%. We rank particularly strongly for "international outlook" (166th of 1,102 worldwide institutions).

National Student Survey 2017


In the National Student Survey, 80% of students are satisfied with the quality of their course.

Some key successes:

  • The best in Scotland and second in the UK for satisfaction with our IT resources
  • Equal first in Scotland for satisfaction with learning resources overall
  • In the top quartile of all UK providers in the subject areas of English and Building

A top 10 UK university for student satisfaction in:

  • Animal Science 
  • Building 
  • General Engineering
  • Microbiology

We also scored at least 90% student satisfaction in:

  • Building
  • Civil Engineering
  • Drama
  • English Studies
  • Microbiology

Study at Edinburgh Napier

We are internationally recognised

In the recent QS Stars international university rankings, the quality of our teaching, internationalisation and employability were all officially recognised, with the University scoring five stars in each category.