
Deciding which is the best university of Warwick or Edinburgh is not clear cut. The University of Warwick and University of Edinburgh are both well respected universities, with top tier students, world class research and well ranked in the UK and the world.
This review is a simplistic view of the two universities and will not consider university life, affordability, student accommodation, the universities ethics, representation and many more important thing.
Is the University of Warwick higher ranked then Edinburgh?
Universities have more than enough ways of ranking themselves against each other. Below are a list of the most well respected guides and rankings of universities to determine the best.
The Sunday Times:
The University of Warwick was named 6thth in the UK, just making it into the top 10 universities in the UK with several their courses Creative Writing 1st, Business Studies 3rd, Politics 4th. In comparison the University of Edinburgh 13th in the Times University Guide 2022
The Guardian:
Comparing the two universities Warwick makes a top 10 spot in the rankings at 6th, compared to Edinburgh at 12th. Both showing progress on last years results; however, still behind their competition Oxbridge, St Andrews, Durham and LSE.
The Good University Guide:
The University of Warwick beats its counterpart Edinburgh again with a ranking of 9th compared to Edinburgh in 12th place.
QS University Rankings:
Unlike the UK rankings, the QS University Rankings show a very different picture how they view both the universities. QS has ranked Edinburgh 16th the world, and Warwick 61st. Despite Warwick’s strong rankings in the UK, it has been beat not only by the University of Edinburgh but also Kings College London and The University of Manchester of which are both universities are considered lower rankings in the UK guides.
Is Warwick a prestigious university?

Th University of Warwick is a well-known university with a range of specialist subjects. The University has a well respaced research program. Highly profitable with more than £570m turn over with large amount of reinvestment in the university and research. The University has a strong maths department with Fields Medallists, Professor Martin Hairer. A highly international institution with 37% of its academics and 31% of its students from outside the UK. The University has also one the It won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2009.
The University provides a big impact to the regional economy with the WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) which aims to invest in manufacturing industries in the local area alongside international investment that has resulted in hundreds of businesses benefiting from. The level of recognition locally and internationally makes the University of Warwick a recognised prestigious university.
Is Edinburgh a prestigious university?

The University of Edinburgh is based in a city steeped in history. The university lives up to its home with an impressive list of history and achievements though inventions and innovation such as the Higgs boson for which a Nobel Prize for Physics was given in 2013 to Professor Peter Higgs who was awarded the, and the cloning of Dolly the Sheep at the university’s Roslin Institute. Edinburgh has a prestigious research with 38% of all research being considered world leading and an impressive 45% awarded international excellence.
Edinburgh is a popular university with a massive 26,000 undergraduates and 15,000 postgraduates of which a massive 45% are international students. The university has been recognised for being the first university in the UK to provide a range of open online courses around the globe, which received Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2013 for its distance learning masters programmes. The research and the recognition makes it clear the University of Edinburgh is a prestigious university.
What does the University of Warwick specialise in?
Warwick has a reputation to specialise in business, finance, management, and mathematics. The university always ranks well for these subjects and has shown thought its WMG its focus on business. The University of Warwick has a world recognised business school or known as WBS. The universities goal is to be “Europe’s leading University-based Business School, developing transformational ideas and people that shape how we do business” according to their website.
What does the University of Edinburgh specialise in?
Edinburgh is known for a lot of prestigious courses, mainly in the sciences with the most well-known being:
- Chemistry
- Environmental and Ecological Sciences
- Engineering/Electronics
- Computing Sciences Programs
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Geography
- Ecological Sciences and Environmental
The university has many more courses that are equally popular at the university such as the politics and business studies.
Which university shall I pick, Edinburgh or Warwick?

When its Warwick vs Edinburgh is comes down to which course you want to study and then look at the city/town as this is a factor we have not discussed in this blog. Both are great universities, with history, strong research, achievements, and well-respected rankings. If you were to base it solely of prestige the University of Edinburgh would win slightly, however, this would ignore many other important factors. We have taken a simplistic view and not consider university life, affordability, student accommodation, the universities ethics, representation and many more important things. We would love to hear about your experiences at these universities and tell us your opinion.