There are unis all over the place. You can’t walk through London without tripping over a university campus. Despite this, we’ve found that you’ll often only hear about the same handful of unis time and time again, with the vast majority not getting much attention. This isn’t helpful for student, because some of those overlooked unis have massive strengths in certain subjects or aspects of student life.
This is why we’ve put together this list of Hidden Gems with our friends over at Complete University Guide! We’ve picked out unis from across the UK that excel in a bunch of popular subjects and have ranked highly in their regions for important university features. We’ve done this using data from our very own Whatuni Student Choice Awards (the WUSCAs) and the student reviews that power them, as well as Complete University Guide’s brilliant league tables.
Whether you’re trying to find a uni in a specific part of the country, close to home, somewhere with a reasonable cost of living, or trying to scope out good unis in Clearing, this will help you increase your options a lot!
We've got loads of handy Clearing articles and more on our Clearing Hub. Browse unis across the UK, find courses with open Clearing spaces, and get advice on your next steps in Clearing.
It was a tremendous year for the University of Surrey. Not only did it score highly in many of the WUSCAS categories in the South East (including top placements in Career Prospects and University Halls), it was also in the top ten of an impressive nine subject league table. That even included two first place spots, in Information Technology & Systems and Food Science!
Birmingham is brimming with brill universities, which is great not only for alliterative purposes. One of the city’s unis that has been doing particularly well recently is Birmingham Newman University, which came top of the West Midlands region in the 2025 WUSCAs, as well as ranking second in the whole country in the Student Support and Lecture and Teaching Quality categories.
Teesside University had a fantastic year in the 2025 WUSCAs, placing first in the North East England category as well as coming in the top ten for Facilities and Student Union in the whole country. Plus, over on the subject league tables, it was in the top ten for Complementary Medicine.
Want to study in London but not too keen on being properly right in the middle of the city? Middlesex University can offer you that, along with a lot more. It came second in the whole country in the WUSCAs, and topped the charts in the Facilities category too. Plus, it was the top ranked university in London, and was even in the top ten for Veterinary Medicine in the Complete University Guide subject league tables.
For students looking to study in Yorkshire and the Humber, we reckon you should research Leeds Beckett University. Why? It came in the top ten of four different Complete University Guide subject league tables and was ranked first in five categories in the region in the WUSCAs (Career Prospects, Facilities, International, Lecturer and Teaching Quality, and Postgraduate). Great efforts from the uni!
Students wanting to study somewhere with plenty of greenery but also have easy access to a big city should check out the University of Hertfordshire. Just north of London, this uni came first in the Eastern England region for Career Prospects and University Halls in the WUSCAs, and got three top ten places in the Complete University Guide subject league tables.
Want to study somewhere coastal? Take a look at Arts University Bournemouth, which jumped up an impressive 30 rankings in the 2025 Whatuni Student Choice Awards and 32 rankings in the 2026 Complete University Guide league tables.
Not only that, Arts University Bournemouth also came second in South West England in the Student Support and Student Union in the 2025 WUSCAs.
Are you an international student thinking about going to university in Scotland? Consider having a gander at the University of Stirling, which came first in Scotland in the International category, and also landed the top spot in the Tourism, Transport, Travel & Heritage Studies subject league table. Stirling is also just a generally wonderful place, with the River Forth winding through it.
The top WUSCAs uni in the East Midlands in 2025 was Nottingham Trent University, which also took home the top spot for Career Prospects, Postgraduate, and Student Life categories in the region. On the league table side of things, NTU bagged three top ten placements in subject league tables, namely Forensic Science, Land & Property Management, and Building.
Keen on studying in the North West? We reckon you ought to have a look at Lancaster University when you start making your choices. The uni managed at get a top ten spot in a massive 13 subject league table from Complete University Guide. This includes the likes of Linguistics, German, Art & Design, Social work, and Creative writing.
If you’re considering taking your education to Wales, check out Bangor University as one of your options. It came top for Postgraduate students in Wales in the WUSCAs, and also landed six top ten rankings in subject league tables, including Celtic Studies, Agriculture and Forestry, Health Studies, Education, Childhood and Youth Studies, and Medical Technology & Bioengineering.
NEXT: Find out more about Bangor University
