Best universities for Film & Performance
Built only from official government data.
You may not agree with this order. We present the data as we find it, and we say plainly how much we think each measure is worth. Every weight is published, every figure is sourced and dated, and where we cannot prove something we leave it blank rather than fill it in. Complete transparency is the whole claim — disagree with the weighting, and you can see exactly what you are disagreeing with.
Tier 1 — strongest for this subject
On our measures these are the strongest places in our catalogue to study this. They are listed alphabetically: the differences between them are smaller than the uncertainty in the data.
Tier 2
Strong, and separated from Tier 1 by more than the margin of error.
Tier 3
Solid, with a measurable gap to the tiers above.
Tier 4
Further back on the measures we use.
Universities inside a tier are listed alphabetically, and there is no order within a tier — the differences are smaller than the data can carry, so publishing one would be inventing it. Open any university, or several at once, for the published figures behind it: earnings, satisfaction, research and the rest, on the same rows every time so they can be read side by side.
Courses we hold that are not in this table
None of these is a judgement on the course. A university marked not in this table at all is missing for one of the reasons below and for no other reason — never because it scored badly.
Film and Creative Writing — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and English Literature — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and Philosophy — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre and Creative Writing — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre and English Literature — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA Film Studies — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
BA Drama — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Theatre with Creative Writing — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Dutch with Film Studies BA — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Scandinavian Studies with Film Studies — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA Drama & Theatre Arts — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Drama and Creative Writing — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Drama and English Literature — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Film and Creative Writing — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and Modern Languages — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and Television with Innovation — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre and English — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre and Modern Languages — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre with Innovation — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and English — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and Television Studies and Modern Languages — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/French — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/German — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/History of Art — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/History — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Philosophy — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Politics — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Social & Public Policy — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Scottish Literature — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Scottish History — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Sociology — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film & Television Studies/Spanish — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Social & Public Policy/Theatre Studies — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre Studies/Classics — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre Studies/English Language — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre Studies/English Literature — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Theatre and Performance with Enterprise — HESA classifies this as combined and general studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA Film Studies — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Drama and English Literature — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and East Asian Studies — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and English Language — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and English Literature — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and History — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and History of Art — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Modern Languages — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and English — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and History — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Biblical Studies and Film Studies — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Classical Studies and Film Studies — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and French — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and German — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and International Relations — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Italian — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Middle Eastern History — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Modern History — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Philosophy — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Russian — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Scottish History — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Social Anthropology — HESA classifies this as social sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Spanish — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Theological Studies — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies with Bible and Culture — HESA classifies this as historical, philosophical and religious studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film Studies and Persian — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Film and Literature BA — HESA classifies this as language and area studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
A university missing from every list above is not ranked last — it is not ranked. Either we do not list it, or it has no Film & Performance course in the official data at all. An absence means "we do not know", never "it is weak".
Not published: Other — not a discipline — a browsing bucket with no subject classification behind it, so there is nothing coherent to rank its courses against. We would rather leave a subject out than band it on too little.
Who decided this order?
We did, out of eight published government measures with every weight shown — and none of them is a survey of opinion. The next tab has all of it: what each measure contributes, what we deliberately left out, where the order stops being something the data can support, and the source and year of every figure.
Sources: Discover Uni (on_2026_09_29_12_31_32), the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset, Graduate Outcomes, the National Student Survey, and REF 2021. Snapshot on_2026_09_29_12_31_32-c6abef4e77df, computed 2026-10-05. Each source publishes annually or less often, so these tables change when a release lands and not otherwise.