List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by education information
Universities attended by British prime ministers
University
Number of prime ministers
University of Oxford
30
University of Cambridge
14
University of Edinburgh
3
University of Glasgow
3
Other university
7
No university
8
A bar chart of universities attended by British prime ministers.
A list of prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the educational institutions they attended.
As of October 2022[update], of the 57 prime ministers to date, 30 were educated at the University of Oxford (including 13 at Christ Church), and 14 at the University of Cambridge (including six at Trinity College). Three attended the University of Edinburgh, three the University of Glasgow, and two Mason Science College, a predecessor institution of the University of Birmingham. John Major was (as of 2024) the last of the eight prime ministers who did not attend university after leaving secondary education. A number of the prime ministers who attended university never graduated. Oxford gained its 29th prime-ministerial alumnus when Liz Truss succeeded Boris Johnson in September 2022 and its 30th a month later in Rishi Sunak.[1]
Twenty prime ministers were schooled at Eton College, of whom nine were educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, including all three who held office between 1880 and 1902 (Gladstone, Salisbury, Rosebery). Seven were educated at Harrow School and six at Westminster School. Rishi Sunak was the second to be educated at Winchester College. Eleven prime ministers to date have been educated at only non-fee-paying schools; these include all five who held office between 1964 and 1997 (Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major). Theresa May was educated at both independent and grammar schools. Three did not receive (primary or secondary) school education and were homeschooled during childhood.
Fifteen Prime ministers trained as barristers at the Inns of Court, including 12 at Lincoln's Inn (although not all were called to the bar). Two (Wellington and Churchill) completed officer training at military academies.
Although William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath (in 1746) and James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave (in 1757) briefly attempted to form governments, neither is usually counted as prime minister. They are not listed below.
The Earl of Bute (Groningen & Leiden): the first prime minister to graduate from a university outside the UK
William Pitt the Younger (Pembroke, Cambridge): home schooled; went to Cambridge aged 14, graduated at 17, MP at 21, prime minister at 24. MP for Cambridge University
W. E. Gladstone (Eton; Christ Church, Oxford; Lincoln's Inn): attended the three institutions with most alumni prime ministers. MP for Oxford University
Margaret Thatcher (Somerville, Oxford): the first female PM, educated at an all-female school and college; studied chemistry, the only PM with a science degree
Gordon Brown (Edinburgh): the only prime minister to complete a PhD. Served as university rector 1972–75, while still a student
^"Rishi Sunak set to be PM as penny Mordaunt drops out of leadership race". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
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Global Information
The Earl of Bute (Groningen & Leiden): the first prime minister to graduate from a university outside the UK
William Pitt the Younger (Pembroke, Cambridge): home schooled; went to Cambridge aged 14, graduated at 17, MP at 21, prime minister at 24. MP for Cambridge University
W. E. Gladstone (Eton; Christ Church, Oxford; Lincoln's Inn): attended the three institutions with most alumni prime ministers. MP for Oxford University
Margaret Thatcher (Somerville, Oxford): the first female PM, educated at an all-female school and college; studied chemistry, the only PM with a science degree
Gordon Brown (Edinburgh): the only prime minister to complete a PhD. Served as university rector 1972–75, while still a student
