London tops league table as most dangerous universities ranked

London’s Courtauld Institute of Art has been named as the most dangerous university to attend in England and Wales in a league table published by the Complete University Guide (CUG).

The figures, released on Monday (September 19), grade universities by the number of robberies, burglaries and violence and sexual crimes committed in the streets most favoured by students.

According to the data, seven per cent of people living in student hotspots for the Courtauld Institute fall victim to these three crime types – judged as the most relevant to students – every year.

The London School of Economics was judged the second least safe, with 6.7 per cent of nearby residents falling victim each year, followed by the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts at 6.3 per cent.

The University of York emerged as the safest, with an annual crime rate of just 1.6 per cent.

However, the lack of official data against students meant the CUG had to rely on information on victims living in the vicinity of universities.

CUG principal author Dr Bernard Kingston said: “Regrettably, in the UK, universities are either unable or unwilling to disclose the rates of crime directly affecting their students on campus, let alone off campus, a matter of considerable interest to potential applicants and their parents.

“Our data accurately reflect the level of crime of greatest relevance to students in the streets where they live while studying at university.

“They provide information that is not available to students from their prospective choices of university and which, alongside other advice, assist them to make informed decisions about where to live and study.”