Is Scotland the place to be for dental education? The Guardian has released its University Guide 2027, placing two Scottish universities at the top of the UK dental school rankings.
The top spot was taken by the University of Dundee, which received a perfect 100 score from The Guardian. This is the third year in a row that the university has ranked first, which it said was ‘reaffirming its excellence in dentistry after being named best in the UK once again’.
In second place was the University of Glasgow, which scored particularly highly in teaching satisfaction for an overall score of 98.
Many of the top 10 universities celebrated being included on the list. Professor Koen Lamberts, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, which ranked eighth, said: ‘Our strength lies in bringing together world-leading research, excellent teaching and a culture that encourages students to think independently and turn ideas into impact.’
The rankings:
| Ranking | University | Score |
| 1 | University of Dundee | 100 |
| 2 | University of Glasgow | 98.4 |
| 3 | University of Plymouth | 83.2 |
| 4 | University of Bristol | 82.2 |
| 5 | Queen’s University Belfast | 79.2 |
| 6 | University of Liverpool | 75.8 |
| 7 | University of Leeds | 70.9 |
| 8 | University of Sheffield | 67.2 |
| 9 | Queen Mary University London | 67.1 |
| 10 | University of Birmingham | 53.9 |
| 11 | Newcastle University | 53.8 |
| 12 | University of Cardiff | 53.1 |
| 13 | University of Manchester | 42 |
| 14 | University of Lancashire | 38.5 |
| 15 | King’s College London | 35.5 |
| 16 | Teesside University | 32.9 |
Do all dental school rankings agree?
The Complete University Guide 2027 has a very similar top five to The Guardian:
- University of Glasgow
- University of Dundee
- Queen’s University Belfast
- University of Liverpool
- University of Bristol.
However, King’s College London was the only UK institution to make the top 10 in the QS World University Rankings for dentistry, despite being placed 15th by The Guardian.
This difference is caused by the methodology used to create each ranking. The Guardian uses Graduate Outcomes data for graduates from 2023/24 15 months after graduation, measuring student satisfaction, staff-to-student ratios and entry requirements. On the other hand, the QS World University Rankings is much more research-focused, using metrics such as citations per paper and employer reputation.
Do graduates regret studying dentistry?
The Guardian University Guide 2027 also considered the best and worst rated subjects after graduation. Dentistry came top of this list with the highest subject contentment rate of 86.5%. It was followed by veterinary sciences at 86% and medicine at 84.1%.
The lowest rated subjects were business management (57.4%), biomedical science (60.8%) and sociology/social policy (61.6%).
Overall, eight in 10 graduates said they would still choose going to university over any other option.
Matt Hiely-Rayner, one of the analysts behind the university guide, said: ‘Very few students say they would do something different than go to university – only about 20% of graduates say they would do something completely different.
‘And the proportion who are happy with the provider they selected has stayed strong and has actually gone up slightly this year, suggesting that people were more satisfied with their choice.’
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