Students can mingle between medieval quads and modern laboratories at this ancient and ambitious institution. Glasgow has a tradition of firsts, launching Britain’s first School of Engineering and becoming the first university in Scotland to have a computer. Its main Gilmorehill campus, famed for the Gilbert Scott building's iconic bell tower, is at the heart of the city's fashionable West End. A £1 billion campus redevelopment is currently under way, adding 14 acres and flagship facilities. The investment complements Glasgow's vibrant cultural life — it is the UK's first Unesco city of music — and the university's historic Hunterian Museum. It's no surprise that students arrive with top grades: in our entry-standards metric, Glasgow is on a par with Cambridge.
What is the University of Glasgow’s reputation?
It is one of two Russell Group universities in Scotland and won our Scottish University of the Year title for 2024. Glasgow also holds a top 100 spot in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Linked with eight Nobel laureates, its research profile is world-class. Its contemporary prestige is confirmed by the results of the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), our analysis of which ranked the university 12th in the UK, with particular success in the fields of medicine, veterinary studies, and life sciences, where 95 per cent of the submitted work was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent. The social sciences also performed well (90 per cent).
Degree options are broad: Glasgow has 27 academic schools offering flexible and wide-ranging programmes within 70 subject areas. Students can study or work abroad without adding to the standard four-year length of courses, facilitated by partnerships with more than 180 institutions worldwide. However, students’ evaluation of teaching quality has declined in our National Student Survey (NSS) analysis, falling to 126th. The wider student experience also dropped, ranking 116th.
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
The university did not provide this information.
What are the University of Glasgow’s entry requirements – and my chances of getting in?
Standard offers range from AAA to CCC at A-level and AAAAAA to BBBB in Scottish Highers. Competition is fierce and in reality the average entrant’s grades place Glasgow alongside Cambridge at the top of our entry-standards metric. The university makes contextual offers with reduced requirements for eligible students from widening participation backgrounds. While most students are Scottish there is a large international cohort, and a small number of places (9 per cent in 2024) are secured through clearing.
What are the graduate prospects?
Glasgow ranks in the top third nationally (27th) for graduate prospects, with a high proportion of graduates in skilled work or further study 15 months after leaving. The careers department partners with more than 150 organisations annually to provide in excess of 300 exclusive — and mostly paid — internships, many of which lead to permanent roles.
What is the University of Glasgow’s campus like?
Glasgow is not a campus university in the traditional sense and has three sites around the city. The redeveloped Gilmorehill campus now features the £90 million James McCune Smith Learning Hub and the £116 million Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC), where researchers tackle global challenges from digital chemistry to sustainable development.Four miles away, the spacious Garscube campus in the northwest of the city hosts the veterinary school and outdoor sports pitches. Liberal arts and teaching courses are delivered in Dumfries, where more than £13 million has been spent on sporting and social facilities.More than a quarter of undergraduates are from outside the UK. Glasgow has a branch campus in Singapore, working with Singapore Institute of Technology, and a joint graduate school with Nankai University in northeastern China.
When can I visit?
gla.ac.uk
Everything you need to know about the University of Glasgow’s student life and wellbeing support
The city is Scotland’s biggest metropolis, known for its friendly atmosphere and relative affordability as well as its excellent music scene.
The university has a 25m swimming pool, indoor cycle studio, squash courts and a strength and conditioning suite. There are purpose-built sports facilities on the Gilmorehill campus, where 350 classes and sports activities take place each month, and at the Garscube site, which hosts 70 activities a month, along with all-weather and grass pitches, a cricket oval and tennis courts.
The university’s SafeZone app helps students who are lost, need to report an emergency or require first aid. Students also have access to a confidential advice line — open round-the-clock by phone or online chat — plus one-to-one sessions with counsellors, cognitive behavioral therapists, psychologists and mental health advisers.
What do the students say?
“Fancy a student life that’s part Hogwarts, part Silicon Valley and totally epic? I have rocked ceilidh dance-offs, high-fived pals from a dozen societies, and giggled my way through egg-painting at our Conversation Cafés. When I’m not tucked away in the majestic Hunterian Library — my ultimate study nook — I’m elbow-deep in campus clean-ups or helping fellow students check in on our city’s homeless friends. My insider tip: wear layers, always!”
Stergianna Vekiloglou, MSc stem cell engineering for regenerative medicine student
What about student accommodation at the University of Glasgow?
Nearly 5,400 spaces are available for 2025-26, with a room in halls guaranteed for first-years who apply by the July deadline. Off-campus housing can be in short supply — there are five universities in the city and comparatively few private rentals available to students.
How diverse and inclusive is the University of Glasgow?
The university runs several pre-entry schemes, such as its Top-Up programme, to widen participation from priority postcodes, but it ranks bottom in Scotland in our social inclusion index. Glasgow takes only 80.8 per cent of students from non-selective state schools — only two Scottish universities take fewer.
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of Glasgow
Typically students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have their fourth-year tuition fees waived. They are also eligible to claim access bursaries of £1,000 to £3,000 a year if they are from a low-income household. The university provides about £12 million in undergraduate scholarships for excellence in science and engineering, medical and veterinary sciences, and social sciences as well as high academic achievement more generally, providing merit-based awards as fee discounts or cash stipends. About 13 per cent of entrants in 2025 received some kind of financial assistance.
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