50 Best Film schools in the United Kingdom

Updated: March 02, 2025

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in the United Kingdom ranked based on their research performance in Cinematography. A graph of 32.1K citations received by 5.81K academic papers made by 50 universities in the United Kingdom was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

Please note that our approach to subject rankings is based on scientific outputs and heavily biased on art-related topics towards institutions with computer science research profiles.

1. University of Leeds

England | Leeds

For Cinematography

#2 in Europe

#4 in the World

Founded: 1904

2. University of Warwick

England | Coventry

For Cinematography

#3 in Europe

#5 in the World

Enrollment: 27,278
Founded: 1965

3. University of Exeter

England | Exeter

For Cinematography

#4 in Europe

#7 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 73%
Founded: 1955

4. King's College London

England | London

For Cinematography

#5 in Europe

#9 in the World

Founded: 1829

5. University of Manchester

England | Manchester

For Cinematography

#6 in Europe

#12 in the World

Founded: 1824

6. University of Cambridge

England | Cambridge

For Cinematography

#7 in Europe

#14 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 21%
Founded: 1209

7. University of St Andrews

Scotland | St Andrews

For Cinematography

#8 in Europe

#15 in the World

Enrollment: 10,425
Founded: 1413

8. University of Southampton

England | Southampton

For Cinematography

#9 in Europe

#23 in the World

Enrollment: 21,335
Founded: 1952

9. University of Bristol

England | Bristol

For Cinematography

#10 in Europe

#25 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 63%
Enrollment: 27,513
Founded: 1909

10. University of Edinburgh

Scotland | Edinburgh

For Cinematography

#11 in Europe

#30 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 51%
Founded: 1583

11. University of Glasgow

Scotland | Glasgow

For Cinematography

#13 in Europe

#36 in the World

Founded: 1451

12. University of Nottingham

England | Nottingham

For Cinematography

#14 in Europe

#38 in the World

Founded: 1948

13. University of York

For Cinematography

#15 in Europe

#39 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 20%
Founded: 1963

14. University College London

England | London

For Cinematography

#16 in Europe

#41 in the World

Enrollment: 42,000
Founded: 1826

15. Birkbeck, University of London

England | London

For Cinematography

#17 in Europe

#42 in the World

Founded: 1823

16. University of East Anglia

England | Norwich

For Cinematography

#19 in Europe

#44 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1963

17. University of Oxford

England | Oxford

For Cinematography

#20 in Europe

#45 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1096

18. Queen Mary University of London

England | London

For Cinematography

#21 in Europe

#50 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 18%
Founded: 1989

19. De Montfort University

England | Leicester

For Cinematography

#22 in Europe

#61 in the World

Enrollment: 29,000
Founded: 1992

20. Royal Holloway, University of London

England | Egham

For Cinematography

#23 in Europe

#65 in the World

Founded: 1849

21. University of Stirling

Scotland | Stirling

For Cinematography

#25 in Europe

#72 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 11%
Enrollment: 14,000
Founded: 1967

22. SOAS, University of London

England | London

For Cinematography

#26 in Europe

#79 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 44%
Enrollment: 6,295
Founded: 1916

23. University of Sussex

England | Brighton

For Cinematography

#27 in Europe

#80 in the World

Enrollment: 17,319
Male:Female: 44:56
Founded: 1961

24. University of Sheffield

England | Sheffield

For Cinematography

#30 in Europe

#89 in the World

Founded: 1905

25. University of Kent

England | Canterbury

For Cinematography

#31 in Europe

#91 in the World

Founded: 1965

26. Newcastle University

England | Newcastle upon Tyne

For Cinematography

#34 in Europe

#94 in the World

Founded: 1963

27. University of Portsmouth

England | Portsmouth

For Cinematography

#35 in Europe

#95 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Founded: 1992

28. Manchester Metropolitan University

England | Manchester

For Cinematography

#36 in Europe

#97 in the World

Founded: 1992

29. University of Roehampton

England | London

For Cinematography

#37 in Europe

#101 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 72%
Founded: 2004

30. London School of Economics and Political Science

England | London

For Cinematography

#39 in Europe

#103 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 8%
Enrollment: 9,218
Founded: 1895

31. Lancaster University

England | Lancaster

For Cinematography

#41 in Europe

#106 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1964

32. Goldsmiths, University of London

England | London

For Cinematography

#42 in Europe

#107 in the World

Founded: 1904

33. University of Leicester

England | Leicester

For Cinematography

#44 in Europe

#109 in the World

Enrollment: 24,409
Male:Female: 46:54
Founded: 1957

34. University of Reading

England | Reading

For Cinematography

#47 in Europe

#115 in the World

Founded: 1892

35. Oxford Brookes University

England | Oxford

For Cinematography

#50 in Europe

#121 in the World

Enrollment: 16,900
Founded: 1865

36. University of London

England | London

For Cinematography

#51 in Europe

#122 in the World

Enrollment: 50,000
Founded: 1836

37. University of Liverpool

England | Liverpool

For Cinematography

#52 in Europe

#123 in the World

Enrollment: 28,693
Founded: 1881

38. University of Salford

England | Salford

For Cinematography

#54 in Europe

#131 in the World

Founded: 1967

39. University of Surrey

England | Guildford

For Cinematography

#58 in Europe

#136 in the World

Enrollment: 16,900
Founded: 1966

40. University of Westminster

England | London

For Cinematography

#60 in Europe

#138 in the World

Enrollment: 19,000
Founded: 1838

41. Liverpool John Moores University

England | Liverpool

For Cinematography

#61 in Europe

#145 in the World

Founded: 1992

42. University of Birmingham

England | Birmingham

For Cinematography

#62 in Europe

#146 in the World

Founded: 1900

43. University of Essex

England | Colchester

For Cinematography

#63 in Europe

#147 in the World

Founded: 1964

44. Queen's University Belfast

Northern Ireland | Belfast

For Cinematography

#66 in Europe

#157 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 31%
Founded: 1849

45. Bangor University

For Cinematography

#67 in Europe

#161 in the World

Enrollment: 11,270
Founded: 1884

46. Brunel University London

England | Uxbridge

For Cinematography

#69 in Europe

#166 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 54%
Founded: 1966

47. University of Winchester

England | Winchester

For Cinematography

#80 in Europe

#183 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Founded: 2005

48. Loughborough University

England | Loughborough

For Cinematography

#81 in Europe

#192 in the World

Enrollment: 19,449
Founded: 1966

49. University for the Creative Arts

England | Canterbury

For Cinematography

#83 in Europe

#196 in the World

Founded: 2005

50. Cardiff University

Wales | Cardiff

For Cinematography

#84 in Europe

#199 in the World

Founded: 1997

The best cities to study Cinematography in the United Kingdom based on the number of universities and their ranks are Leeds, Coventry, Exeter, and London.