Thousands of students have returned to - or arrived for the first time at - universities across Scotland in the last few weeks - hoping that their degrees will see them bag a job after graduating.
They’ll be interested in the findings of the Sunday Times’ recent Good University Guide, an annual publication that ranks the institutions according to a range of factors, from graduate salaries to student-to-staff ratio.
This year has seen St Andrews University drop down from the top spot it held in 2023, being replaced by London School of Economics, with Oxford, Cambridge and Durham completing the top five.
A total of five Scottish universities appear in the top 20, with St Andrews joined by Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Strathclyde.
The guide also tells us which universities perform the best when it comes to standards of teaching - using the percentage of positive feedback in the annual National Student Survey.
Here’s how Scotland’s 14 universities perform - which might just surprise you.

5. University of Strathclyde
A total of 83.9 per cent of students at the University of Strathclyde were happy with the standard of teaching. The institution came 5th in Scotland in the overall rankings. | GraemeJBaty - stock.adobe.com

6. University of the West of Scotland
The University of the West of Scotland may have come 4th and last in Scotland when it came to the overall ratings (although it did climb four places in the UK rankings), but it performed fairly well when it came to teaching quality - with 83.2 per cent of students saying they were happy with it. | Google Maps

7. Napier University
A total of 82.8 per cent of students at Edinburgh's Napier University were happy with the standard of teaching. The institution came 9th in Scotland in the overall rankings. | Google Maps

8. University of Dundee
A total of 82.2 per cent of students at the University of Dundee were happy with the standard of teaching. The institution came 6th in Scotland in the overall rankings. | Google Maps
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