74 Best universities for Special Education in England

Updated: March 15, 2026

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in England ranked based on their research performance in Special Education. A graph of 321K citations received by 10.8K academic papers made by 74 universities in England 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.

1. University College London

For Special Education

#1 in the United Kingdom

#2 in Europe

Enrollment: 42,000
Founded: 1826

2. University of Kent

For Special Education

#2 in the United Kingdom

#3 in Europe

Founded: 1965

3. University of Birmingham

For Special Education

#3 in the United Kingdom

#4 in Europe

Founded: 1900

4. Lancaster University

For Special Education

#4 in the United Kingdom

#5 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1964

5. University of Manchester

For Special Education

#5 in the United Kingdom

#6 in Europe

Founded: 1824

6. King's College London

For Special Education

#6 in the United Kingdom

#8 in Europe

Founded: 1829

7. University of Cambridge

For Special Education

#10 in the United Kingdom

#15 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 21%
Founded: 1209

8. St George's, University of London

For Special Education

#11 in the United Kingdom

#18 in Europe

Founded: 1733

9. University of Oxford

For Special Education

#13 in the United Kingdom

#21 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1096

10. University of Sheffield

For Special Education

#14 in the United Kingdom

#22 in Europe

Founded: 1905

11. University of Warwick

For Special Education

#16 in the United Kingdom

#27 in Europe

Enrollment: 27,278
Founded: 1965

12. University of Southampton

For Special Education

#17 in the United Kingdom

#28 in Europe

Enrollment: 21,335
Founded: 1952

13. University of Nottingham

For Special Education

#18 in the United Kingdom

#29 in Europe

Founded: 1948

14. University of Bristol

For Special Education

#20 in the United Kingdom

#33 in Europe

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

15. University of Huddersfield

For Special Education

#21 in the United Kingdom

#36 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Founded: 1992

16. University of Leicester

For Special Education

#22 in the United Kingdom

#39 in Europe

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

17. University of Leeds

For Special Education

#23 in the United Kingdom

#40 in Europe

Founded: 1904

18. Northumbria University

Newcastle upon Tyne

For Special Education

#24 in the United Kingdom

#41 in Europe

Founded: 1992

19. University of York

For Special Education

#27 in the United Kingdom

#49 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 20%
Founded: 1963

20. University of London

For Special Education

#28 in the United Kingdom

#50 in Europe

Enrollment: 50,000
Founded: 1836

21. University of Exeter

For Special Education

#29 in the United Kingdom

#55 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 73%
Founded: 1955

22. Newcastle University

Newcastle upon Tyne

For Special Education

#30 in the United Kingdom

#56 in Europe

Founded: 1963

23. University of East Anglia

For Special Education

#31 in the United Kingdom

#58 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1963

24. Manchester Metropolitan University

For Special Education

#32 in the United Kingdom

#59 in Europe

Founded: 1992

25. University of Plymouth

For Special Education

#33 in the United Kingdom

#60 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Founded: 1992

26. Durham University

For Special Education

#34 in the United Kingdom

#69 in Europe

Enrollment: 19,520
Founded: 1832

27. Imperial College London

For Special Education

#36 in the United Kingdom

#72 in Europe

Enrollment: 17,565
Founded: 1907

28. University of Hertfordshire

For Special Education

#37 in the United Kingdom

#77 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1992

29. Sheffield Hallam University

For Special Education

#38 in the United Kingdom

#81 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Founded: 1992

30. London School of Economics and Political Science

For Special Education

#40 in the United Kingdom

#89 in Europe

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

31. Oxford Brookes University

For Special Education

#42 in the United Kingdom

#93 in Europe

Enrollment: 16,900
Founded: 1865

32. Keele University

For Special Education

#44 in the United Kingdom

#96 in Europe

Founded: 1962

33. University of Wolverhampton

For Special Education

#45 in the United Kingdom

#97 in Europe

Founded: 1992

34. University of Liverpool

For Special Education

#46 in the United Kingdom

#98 in Europe

Enrollment: 28,693
Founded: 1881

35. University of Surrey

For Special Education

#47 in the United Kingdom

#99 in Europe

Enrollment: 16,900
Founded: 1966

36. Canterbury Christ Church University

For Special Education

#49 in the United Kingdom

#102 in Europe

Founded: 2005

37. University of Bath

For Special Education

#51 in the United Kingdom

#104 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 67%
Enrollment: 18,857
Male:Female: 53:47
Founded: 1966

38. University of Hull

Kingston upon Hull

For Special Education

#52 in the United Kingdom

#106 in Europe

Founded: 1954

39. Liverpool John Moores University

For Special Education

#53 in the United Kingdom

#111 in Europe

Founded: 1992

40. University of Salford

For Special Education

#54 in the United Kingdom

#116 in Europe

Founded: 1967

41. University of Reading

For Special Education

#55 in the United Kingdom

#119 in Europe

Founded: 1892

42. University of Sussex

For Special Education

#56 in the United Kingdom

#122 in Europe

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

43. Nottingham Trent University

For Special Education

#57 in the United Kingdom

#127 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 22%
Founded: 1992

44. London South Bank University

For Special Education

#58 in the United Kingdom

#131 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 83%
Founded: 1892

45. University of Portsmouth

For Special Education

#59 in the United Kingdom

#141 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Founded: 1992

46. University of Northampton

For Special Education

#60 in the United Kingdom

#142 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 73%
Founded: 2005

47. University of the West of England

For Special Education

#61 in the United Kingdom

#145 in Europe

Enrollment: 30,732
Founded: 1992

48. Loughborough University

For Special Education

#62 in the United Kingdom

#146 in Europe

Enrollment: 19,449
Founded: 1966

49. University of Chester

For Special Education

#64 in the United Kingdom

#157 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 95%
Founded: 2005

50. University of East London

For Special Education

#65 in the United Kingdom

#164 in Europe

Founded: 1992

51. University of West London

For Special Education

#66 in the United Kingdom

#179 in Europe

Founded: 1990

52. Coventry University

For Special Education

#67 in the United Kingdom

#180 in Europe

Enrollment: 22,980
Founded: 1992

53. Edge Hill University

For Special Education

#68 in the United Kingdom

#181 in Europe

Founded: 2006

54. University of Roehampton

For Special Education

#69 in the United Kingdom

#182 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 72%
Founded: 2004

55. City, University of London

For Special Education

#71 in the United Kingdom

#188 in Europe

Founded: 1966

56. University of Derby

For Special Education

#72 in the United Kingdom

#190 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 76%
Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1992

57. Anglia Ruskin University

For Special Education

#73 in the United Kingdom

#192 in Europe

Founded: 1858

58. Aston University

For Special Education

#74 in the United Kingdom

#194 in Europe

Founded: 1895

59. Leeds Beckett University

For Special Education

#75 in the United Kingdom

#205 in Europe

Founded: 1992

60. University of Central Lancashire

For Special Education

#76 in the United Kingdom

#209 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 72%
Founded: 1992

61. Teesside University

For Special Education

#77 in the United Kingdom

#211 in Europe

Enrollment: 19,290
Founded: 1992

62. Kingston University

Kingston upon Thames

For Special Education

#78 in the United Kingdom

#216 in Europe

Founded: 1992

63. De Montfort University

For Special Education

#79 in the United Kingdom

#233 in Europe

Enrollment: 29,000
Founded: 1992

64. Staffordshire University

For Special Education

#80 in the United Kingdom

#244 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 73%
Founded: 1992

65. Birmingham City University

For Special Education

#81 in the United Kingdom

#246 in Europe

Founded: 1992

66. Brunel University London

For Special Education

#82 in the United Kingdom

#252 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 54%
Founded: 1966

67. University of Worcester

For Special Education

#83 in the United Kingdom

#253 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 89%
Enrollment: 10,798
Founded: 2005

68. Royal Holloway, University of London

For Special Education

#84 in the United Kingdom

#254 in Europe

Founded: 1849

69. University of Greenwich

For Special Education

#85 in the United Kingdom

#258 in Europe

Founded: 1890

70. Goldsmiths, University of London

For Special Education

#86 in the United Kingdom

#262 in Europe

Founded: 1904

71. University of Essex

For Special Education

#87 in the United Kingdom

#263 in Europe

Founded: 1964

72. Birkbeck, University of London

For Special Education

#88 in the United Kingdom

#268 in Europe

Founded: 1823

73. University of Bradford

For Special Education

#89 in the United Kingdom

#273 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 63%
Founded: 1966

74. Queen Mary University of London

For Special Education

#90 in the United Kingdom

#276 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 18%
Founded: 1989

Closest to England states to learn Special Education

State	Universities Unis	Best university country rank Best uni rank
Wales	5	8
Scotland	12	7

Psychology subfields in England

Child Psychology104

Clinical Psychology100

Cognitive Science103

Education Majors110

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution81

Neuroscience109

Occupational Therapy69

Organizational / Business / IO Psychology59

Social Psychology112