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List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by education

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Universities attended by British prime ministers
University Number of prime ministers
Oxford
31
Cambridge
15
Edinburgh
3
Glasgow
3
Other British university
4
University outside UK
5
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 July 2026, of the 59 prime ministers to date, 31 were educated at the University of Oxford (including 13 at Christ Church), and 15 at the University of Cambridge (including six at Trinity College), including the incumbent, Andy Burnham. Three attended the University of Edinburgh, three the University of Glasgow, two Mason Science College, a predecessor institution of the University of Birmingham, and one at the University of Leeds. John Major was (as of 2026) the only one of the ten living prime ministers who did not attend university after leaving secondary education. A number of the prime ministers who attended university never graduated.

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. Twelve 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.

Sixteen 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.

List of British prime ministers by education

[edit]
Prime Minister Term of office School University Degree Professional training
Robert Walpole 1721–1742 Eton College Cambridge (King's Coll.) 1696–98, did not graduate (LL.D. 1728)[1]
Spencer Compton
Earl of Wilmington		 1742–1743 St Paul's School Oxford (Trinity Coll.) 1690–?, did not graduate (D.C.L. 1730)[2] Inns of Court: Middle Temple
Henry Pelham 1743–1754 Westminster School Cambridge (King's Coll.) 1709–10[3]
Oxford (Hart Hall) 1710–?, did not graduate[4]
Thomas Pelham-Holles
Duke of Newcastle		 1754–1756
1757–1762		 Westminster School Cambridge (Clare Coll.) 1710–?, did not graduate (LL.D. 1728)[5]
William Cavendish
Duke of Devonshire		 1756–1757 —[6] — —
John Stuart
Earl of Bute		 1762–1763 Eton College Groningen University Civil law
1730–32[7]
Leiden University Civil law
1732–34, graduated 1734[8]
George Grenville 1763–1765 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) 1730–?, did not graduate[9] Inns of Court: Inner Temple
Charles Watson-Wentworth
Marquess of Rockingham		 1765–1766
1782 		Westminster School —[10] —
William Pitt the Elder
Earl of Chatham		 1766–1768 Eton College Oxford (Trinity Coll.) 1727–28, did not graduate[11]
Utrecht University 1728[12]
Augustus FitzRoy
Duke of Grafton		 1768–1770 Westminster School Cambridge (Peterhouse) 1751–53, M.A. 1753[13]
Frederick North
Lord North		 1770–1782 Eton College Oxford (Trinity Coll.) 1749–50, M.A. 1750[14]
Leipzig University 1751–52[15][16]
William Petty (FitzMaurice)
Earl of Shelburne		 1782–1783 —[17] Oxford (Christ Church) 1755–57, did not graduate[18][19]
William Cavendish-Bentinck
Duke of Portland		 1783
1807–1809		 Westminster School Oxford (Christ Church) 1755–57, M.A. 1757[20]
William Pitt the Younger 1783–1801
1804–1806		 —[21] Cambridge (Pembroke Coll.) 1773–76, M.A. 1776[22]
Henry Addington 1801–1804 Winchester College Oxford (Brasenose Coll.) 1774–78, B.A. 1778 (M.A. 1780)[23] Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
William Grenville
Lord Grenville		 1806–1807 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) 1776–80, B.A. 1780[24] Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
Spencer Perceval 1809–1812 Harrow School Cambridge (Trinity Coll.) 1780–82, M.A. 1782[25] Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
Robert Jenkinson
Earl of Liverpool		 1812–1827 Charterhouse School Oxford (Christ Church) 1787–90, M.A. 1790[26]
George Canning 1827 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) 1787–91, B.A. 1791 (M.A. 1794)[27]
Frederick J. Robinson
Viscount Goderich		 1827–1828 Harrow School Cambridge (St John's Coll.) 1799–1802, M.A. 1802[28]
Arthur Wellesley
Duke of Wellington		 1828–1830
1834 		Eton College — — French Royal Academy of Equitation, Angers
Charles Grey
Earl Grey		 1830–1834 Eton College Cambridge (Trinity Coll.) 1781–83, did not graduate[29]
William Lamb
Viscount Melbourne		 1834
1835–1841		 Eton College Cambridge (Trinity Coll.) 1796–99, M.A. 1799[30] Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
Glasgow University Resident pupil of Prof. John Millar
1799–1801[31]
Robert Peel 1834–1835
1841–1846		 Harrow School Oxford (Christ Church) Classics and Mathematics
1805–08, B.A. 1808 (M.A. 1814)[32]		 Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
John Russell
Earl Russell		 1846–1852
1865–1866		 Westminster School Edinburgh University Resident pupil of Prof. John Playfair
1809–12[33]
Edward Smith-Stanley
Earl of Derby		 1852
1858–1859
1866–1868		 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) Classics
1817–20, did not graduate[34][35]
George Hamilton-Gordon
Earl of Aberdeen		 1852–1855 Harrow School Cambridge (St John's Coll.) 1800–04, M.A. 1804[36]
Henry John Temple
Viscount Palmerston		 1855–1858
1859–1865		 Harrow School Edinburgh University Resident pupil of Prof. Dugald Stewart
1800–03[37][38]
Cambridge (St John's Coll.) 1803–06, M.A. 1806[39]
Benjamin Disraeli
Earl of Beaconsfield		 1868
1874–1880		 Dr Cogan's School, Walthamstow — — Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
William Ewart Gladstone 1868–1874
1880–1885
1886
1892–1894		 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) Classics and Mathematics
1828–32: B.A. 1832 (M.A. 1834)[40]		 Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
Marquess of Salisbury		 1885–1886
1886–1892
1895–1902		 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) Mathematics
1847–50, B.A. 1850 (M.A. 1853),
Fellow of All Souls Coll. 1853[41]		 Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
Archibald Primrose
Earl of Rosebery		 1894–1895 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) 1866–68, did not graduate[42][43]
Arthur Balfour 1902–1905 Eton College Cambridge (Trinity Coll.) Moral Sciences
1866–70, B.A. 1870 (M.A. 1874)[44]
Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908 High School of Glasgow Glasgow University Greek and Logic
1851–53[45]
Cambridge (Trinity Coll.) Classics
1854–58, B.A. 1858 (M.A. 1861)[46]
H. H. Asquith 1908–1916 City of London School Oxford (Balliol Coll.) Classics
1870–74, B.A. 1874, Fellow 1874–82[47]		 Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
David Lloyd George 1916–1922 Llanystumdwy National School — — Solicitor
Bonar Law 1922–1923 High School of Glasgow Glasgow University Extramural student
1879–80[48]
Stanley Baldwin 1923–1924
1924–1929
1935–1937		 Harrow School Cambridge (Trinity Coll.) History
1885–88, B.A. 1888 (M.A. 1892)[49]
Mason College Metallurgy
Ramsay MacDonald 1924
1929–1935		 Drainie Parish School Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution Extramural student
1886–87[50][51]
Neville Chamberlain 1937–1940 Rugby School Mason College Metallurgy
1887–89[52]
Winston Churchill 1940–1945
1951–1955		 Harrow School — — RMC Sandhurst
Clement Attlee 1945–1951 Haileybury College Oxford (University Coll.) Modern History
1901–04, B.A. 1904 (M.A.)[53]		 Inns of Court: Inner Temple
Anthony Eden 1955–1957 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) Persian and Arabic
1919–22, B.A. 1922 (M.A.)
Harold Macmillan 1957–1963 Eton College Oxford (Balliol Coll.) Classics
1912–14, did not graduate
Alec Douglas-Home
Earl of Home		 1963–1964 Eton College Oxford (Christ Church) Modern History
1922–25, B.A. 1925 (M.A.)
Harold Wilson 1964–1970
1974–1976		 Royds Hall Grammar School;
Wirral Grammar School for Boys		 Oxford (Jesus Coll.) PPE (transferred from Modern History)[54]
1934–37, B.A. 1937 (M.A.)
Fellow of University Coll. 1938–45[55]
Edward Heath 1970–1974 Chatham House Grammar School Oxford (Balliol Coll.) PPE
1935–39, B.A. 1939 (M.A.)
James Callaghan 1976–1979 Northern Secondary School, Portsmouth — — Civil Service: Inland Revenue
Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990 Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School Oxford (Somerville Coll.) Chemistry
1943–47, B.A. 1947 (M.A. 1950)		 Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
John Major 1990–1997 Rutlish School — — Correspondence course in banking
Tony Blair 1997–2007 Fettes College Oxford (St John's Coll.) Law
1972–75, B.A. 1975 (M.A.)		 Inns of Court: Lincoln's Inn
Gordon Brown 2007–2010 Kirkcaldy High School Edinburgh University History
1967–82, M.A. 1972, Ph.D. 1982,[56]
University Rector 1972–75[57]
David Cameron 2010–2016 Eton College Oxford (Brasenose Coll.) PPE
1985–88, B.A. 1988 (M.A.)
Theresa May 2016–2019 Holton Park Girls' Grammar School Oxford (St Hugh's Coll.) Geography
1974–77, B.A. 1977 (M.A.)
Boris Johnson 2019–2022 Eton College Oxford (Balliol Coll.) Classics
1983–87, B.A. 1987 (M.A.)
Liz Truss 2022 Roundhay School Oxford (Merton Coll.) PPE
1993–96, B.A.
Rishi Sunak 2022–2024 Winchester College Oxford (Lincoln Coll.) PPE
1998–2001, B.A.
Stanford University Business administration
2004–06, M.B.A. 2006[58]
Keir Starmer 2024–2026 Reigate Grammar School Leeds University Law
1982–85, LL.B. 1985		 Inns of Court: Middle Temple
Oxford (St Edmund Hall) Law
1985–86, B.C.L. 1986
Andy Burnham 2026–present St Aelred's Catholic High School Cambridge (Fitzwilliam Coll.) English literature
1988–91, B.A. 1991
Prime Minister Term of office School University Degree Professional training

University offices held

[edit]

Chancellor

[edit]

The following prime ministers served as chancellor of their university:

Cambridge:

Oxford:

Member of Parliament

[edit]

The following prime ministers served as MP for the university constituency for their university:

Cambridge:

Oxford:

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Walpole, Robert (WLPL695R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Compton, Spencer" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  3. ↑ "Pelham, Henry (PLHN709H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1891). "Pelham, Henry (2)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1500–1714. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  5. ↑ "Pelham, Thomas (PLHN709T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Andrew, History of Government: William Cavendish Duke of Devonshire: "Initially educated at home by tutors, he, like many young aristocrats of the period, completed his education by undertaking the Grand Tour to France and Italy."
  7. ↑ "Schotse oud-student werd premier van Engeland". Groninger Gezinsbode (in Dutch). 15 November 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  8. ↑ Gillan, Caroline (2018). Lord Bute and eighteenth-century science and patronage. NUI Galway: PhD Theses (Thesis). NUI Galway. p. 44. Retrieved 29 June 2019. He left Eton College in 1730, and subsequently travelled to the Netherlands where he too pursued civil law, first attending Groningen University, before moving to Leiden University in 1732. After spending two years in Leiden, Bute left in March 1734 with a degree in civil law.
  9. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Grenville, George" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  10. ↑ Rigg, J. M. (1899). "Watson-Wentworth, Charles" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co. — has Rockingham attending St John's College, Cambridge. However, there is no mention of him in Alumni Cantabrigienses, and the DNB is not followed in this detail by the Oxford DNB.
  11. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Pitt, William (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  12. ↑ Williams, Basil (2014-01-14). The Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Vol. 1. Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-136-62559-6. Retrieved 27 June 2019. In the following year [1728] he went to Utrecht, where he probably acquired the knowledge he afterwards displayed of Grotius and other writers on international law and diplomacy. How long he studied at Utrecht is not known; he was certainly there during the first quarter of 1728, in company with his cousin Lord Villiers and Lord Buchan and two other Erskines.
  13. ↑ "FitzRoy, Augustus Henry (FTSY751AH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  14. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "North, Frederick (2)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  15. ↑ North, Lord (May 1903). "Lord North, the Prime Minister". The North American Review. 176 (556): 781. JSTOR 25119408. At Leipzig he made a long stay for a course of studies under the celebrated Mascow, whose lectures on the "Present State of Europe in Respect to Politics" gave him especial interest.
  16. ↑ Whiteley, Peter (1996). Lord North: The Prime Minister Who Lost America. A & C Black. pp. 11–14. ISBN 978-1-85285-145-3. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  17. ↑ Bloy, Dr Marjorie, A Web of English History: "He appears not to have had much education: in his autobiography, he noted, "From the time I was four years old till I was fourteen, my education was neglected to the greatest degree". He was sent to an ordinary school and then was taught by a tutor until he went to Christ Church, Oxford in 1755."
  18. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "FitzMaurice, William" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  19. ↑ "Petty, William Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (1737–1805)". University of Toronto Libraries. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  20. ↑ Foster, Joseph. "Bentinck, William Henry Cavendish, Marquis of Titchfield (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses  – via Wikisource.
  21. ↑ Pitt the Younger was tutored at home, until entering Cambridge a month before turning 14.
  22. ↑ "Pitt, Hon. William (PT773W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  23. ↑ Foster, Joseph. "Addington, Henry (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses  – via Wikisource.
  24. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Grenville, William (Wyndham)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  25. ↑ "Perceval, Hon. Spencer (PRCL780S)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  26. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Jenkinson, Robert Bankes" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  27. ↑ Foster, Joseph. "Canning, George (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses  – via Wikisource.
  28. ↑ "Robinson, Hon. Frederick John (RBN799FJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  29. ↑ "Grey, Charles (GRY781C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  30. ↑ "Lamb, Hon. Henry William (LM796HW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  31. ↑ Torrens, William McCullach (1878). Memoirs of the Right Honourable William, Second Viscount Melbourne. Vol. 1. London: Macmillan. p. 39. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  32. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Peel, (Sir) Robert (Bart.) (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  33. ↑ Reid, Stuart J. (1895). Lord John Russell. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  34. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Stanley, Edward Geoffrey Smith" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  35. ↑ Hawkins, Angus (2007). The Forgotten Prime Minister: The 14th Earl of Derby. Vol. I: Ascent, 1799–1851. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 19–22. ISBN 978-0-19-920440-3. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  36. ↑ "Gordon, George Hamilton (Lord Haddo) (GRDN800GH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  37. ↑ "Viscount Palmerston (1784 – 1865)". University of Edinburgh. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  38. ↑ Thomas, Amanda J. (2010). The Lambeth Cholera Outbreak of 1848-1849. McFarland. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-7864-5714-4. Retrieved 28 June 2019. Palmerston had gone to Edinburgh to study under Duglad Stewart (1753–1828), professor of moral philosophy; Palmerston had also lodged with him.
  39. ↑ "Palmerston, Henry John (Temple), Viscount (PLMN803HJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  40. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Gladstone, William Ewart" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  41. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Cecil, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  42. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Primrose, Archibald Philip, Baron Dalmeny" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  43. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  44. ↑ "Balfour, Arthur James (BLFR866AJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  45. ↑ "Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman". University of Glasgow: The University of Glasgow Story. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  46. ↑ "Campbell [post Campbell Bannerman], Henry (CMBL854H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  47. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Asquith, Herbert Henry" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  48. ↑ "Andrew Bonar Law". University of Glasgow: The University of Glasgow Story. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  49. ↑ "Baldwin, Stanley (BLDN885S)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  50. ↑ "Notable Birkbeckians". Birkbeck, University of London. Retrieved 23 June 2019. Ramsay MacDonald studied science, botany, agriculture, mathematics, and physics at Birkbeck in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
  51. ↑ "Radical Beginnings, Inspiring Traditions". Google Arts & Culture: Birkbeck, University of London. Retrieved 1 July 2019. Ramsay MacDonald was a student at Birkbeck from 1886-1887, forging a lifelong passion for the arts.
  52. ↑ Self, Robert (2017). Neville Chamberlain: A Biography. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-91516-8. Retrieved 29 June 2019. After Rugby, his father decided that Neville should attend Mason College, the forerunner of Birmingham University, undertaking a course of metallurgy, mathematics and engineering for two years as a preparation for a career in the Birmingham metal industry.
  53. ↑ "Clement Attlee Memorial Lecture 2019". University College, Oxford. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  54. ↑ Moore, Peter G. (1996). "Obituary: James Harold Wilson 1916-95". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. 159 (1): 165–173. doi:10.1111/j.1467-985X.1996.tb00710.x. JSTOR 2983476.
  55. ↑ "Harold Wilson proclamation". University College, Oxford. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  56. ↑ Brown, Gordon (1982). The Labour Party and political change in Scotland 1918–1929: the politics of five elections (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/7136.
  57. ↑ "The Rector of the University". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  58. ↑ Riley, Oriana (24 October 2022). "Former Stanford MBA student selected UK's next prime minister". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
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