Russell Group Unis Ranked 2027

Russell Group Unis Ranked

The Russell Group contains many of the most prestigious and high-quality universities in the UK. Many students know that they want to apply to Russell Group institutions but aren’t sure which is the best.

In this guide, we’ll rank the Russell Group unis according to their performance in four major league tables. We’ll uncover the best Russell Group universities overall, and take a deeper look at the top Russell Groups in a few major subjects. This will help us explore how a more detailed analysis can help students find the best universities for their particular interests and ambitions.

If you’re thinking of applying to the Russell Group, you might be interested in our guide on the hardest and easiest Russell Groups to get into.

What is the Russell Group?

Before we rank the Russell Group unis, we should first explain what they are! The Russell Group is an association of 24 research-intensive universities in the UK. It include some big names – Oxford and Cambridge, for instance, as well as the other three G5 universities (Imperial, LSE, and UCL).

They are often regarded as among the best universities in the country (with several of its institutions among the best in the world), and there is data to back this up:

• The Russell Group is responsible for 65% of all world-leading research conducted in the UK
• Their graduates make up 17% of all graduates in the UK, but hold 61% of jobs requiring a university degree
• The Russell Group wins more than £1 billion a year in research grants and contracts (70% of the total won by all UK universities)

A glance at university rankings will also reveal that Russell Group institutions are usually among the top spots in the UK.

Despite being a byword for excellence, especially in the popular imagination, it is important to note that the Russell Group is a self-selecting association – it’s not the case that a university has to reach an objective measure of quality and then it gets admitted into the Group. And though all its members are good universities, there are plenty of excellent institutions that aren’t part of it – for instance, St Andrews and Bath are often ranked in the top 10 in the UK but are not Russell Group members. Our guide to the best non-Russell Group universities goes into more detail.

How do University Rankings Work

In this guide, we’ll take a look at the Russell Group rankings according to various publications. These include the Complete University Guide (CUG), Guardian, and Times Good University Guide, which rank UK universities, and the QS World University Rankings, which is a global league table.

But how do these publications arrive at their rankings? They usually compile a wide range of data to arrive at a final, overall ranking:

• % of students who say they enjoyed their course
• Rating of the teaching, as given by students
• Student to staff ratio
• Financial budget per student
• Students’ career outcomes after graduation
• Average A Level or equivalent grades of new students
• % of students who start their degree who complete it

A couple of caveats on these rankings:

1. Each publication tracks a slightly different metric and has a different way of gathering its data. This means that there are variations – sometimes significant ones – between the ranking a university achieves in one publication vs another.
2. By nature, the rankings are designed to judge the university for the ‘average’ student. They can’t take into account subjective preference, and a university which is right for one student won’t be right for another – so we’d never recommend selecting a university purely based on its ranking. The CUG and Guardian league tables also break down their rankings by subject (which is generally much more useful to look at as a prospective student), but QS doesn’t.

That said, provided we take them all with a pinch of salt, the rankings can be a good guide to the overall quality of the university – especially when we take into account performance across multiple league tables.

Russell Group University Rankings

Now it’s time to get to business: the Russell Group unis ranked!

In the table below, we’ve compared each university’s performance in the four major league tables. Our ‘overall rank’ represents its average ranking across all four publications.

Note that the rankings refer to the university’s performance compared to other Russell Group universities, not to its ranking in the UK as a whole. E.g. Exeter is the 7^th highest ranking Russell Group in the CUG table but is ranked 11^th overall in the UK (St Andrews, Loughborough, Bath, and Lancaster are the non-Russell Groups that rank higher).

University	CUG	Guardian	QS	Times	Overall Rank
Cambridge	1	2	3	3	1=
Oxford	2	1	2	4	1=
Imperial	4	4	1	5	3
LSE	3	3	9	1	4
Durham	5	5	15	2	5
Warwick	6	6	10	6	6
UCL	10	9	4	7	7
Bristol	13	8	8	8	8
Birmingham	8	10	10	11	9
Sheffield	9	11	14	9	10
Edinburgh	15	7	5	18	11
KCL	12	14	6	14	12
Exeter	7	12	19	10	13
Southampton	11	13	18	12	14
Manchester	19	15	7	20	15
Leeds	14	17	12	19	16
Liverpool	17	18	20	13	17
Glasgow	22	16	13	17	17
York	16	21	22	15	19
Queen’s Belfast	18	19	23	16	20
Nottingham	20	22	16	22	21
Cardiff	21	19	24	21	22
Queen Mary	24	23	17	24	23
Newcastle	23	24	21	23	24

So, there we have it – Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, and LSE come out as the best Russell Group universities according to these rankings. They each claim first place in at least one league table. Oxford and Cambridge are tied as our our overall ‘winners’ – with Cambridge in the top three Russell Group universities in all four rankings and Oxford taking one first and two second places.

We can note some interesting things from this data – particularly discrepancies between the UK league tables (Guardian, Times, and CUG) and the global one (QS).

• LSE is ranked in the top three best Russell Group by the UK league tables, but only 9^th in the global ranking
• Durham is ranked in the top five by the UK rankers, but 15^th by QS
• Edinburgh is ranked 15^th and 18^th  best Russell Group university by the CUG and the Times, but 5^th by QS
• KCL is not so highly regarded by the UK league tables, coming in 12^th, 14^th, and 14^th place, but is well received by the global rankers, being rated the 6^th best Russell Group by QS.
• Similarly, Manchester is ranked 19^th by CUG, 15th by the Guardian, and 20th by the Times, but 7^th by QS
• Exeter comes in as 7^th, 10^th, and 12^th  best Russell Group in the UK rankings, but 19^th in QS.
• Oxbridge remains highly regarded by all, though – Oxford and Cambridge are in the top four in all four league tables

Best Russell Group Universities

Let’s dive into a little more detail on the top Russell Group universities according to these league tables.

1=. Cambridge University

Founded by disgruntled Oxford academics in 1209, Cambridge is the second oldest university in the UK and is often grouped together with Oxford as part of ‘Oxbridge’.

The two universities share many similarities – the collegiate system, the campus spread throughout the city, and the small-group teaching system (known as ‘supervisions’ at Cambridge).

Its alumni have won 124 Nobel Prizes and include historical figures such as Isaac Newton, Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, and Alan Turing. Cambridge comes out as the second best Russell Group university according to these rankings.

1=. Oxford University

Oxford was founded in the late 11^th century (making it one of the oldest universities in the world) and is a highly prestigious collegiate university. It consists of 43 constituent colleges with the campus scattered throughout the city of Oxford.

At undergraduate level, it is noted for its small-group tutorial system of teaching. It offers world-leading degrees in all major academic disciplines. It has educated 31 British Prime Ministers and 73 Nobel Prize Laureates

3. Imperial College London

Imperial College London specialises in science, engineering, medicine, and business. Located in central London, it is renowned for cutting-edge research, innovation, and academic excellence.

Imperial consistently ranks among the top global universities and attracts students from over 140 countries. It offers students a dynamic learning environment and excellent career prospects, particularly in STEM-related fields.

4. London School of Economics (LSE)

Taking fourth place in our ranking of the best Russell Group universities is LSE. A constituent college of the University of London, LSE (as its name suggests) specialises in Economics and other social sciences.

It was founded by Fabian Society intellectuals at the turn of the 20^th century and has educated 24 heads of state, the second most of any UK university (after Oxford). A quarter of Nobel Prizes in Economics have been awarded to LSE alumni or academics.

5. University of Durham

Durham is another collegiate university (like Oxford and Cambridge), located in a medieval cathedral city in the north east of England. Founded in 1832, it is the third oldest university in England. It is notable for having produced more professional athletes than any other British university.

Best Russell Group Universities for Law

We mentioned earlier that overall league tables of universities only have limited use for students. In the UK, you apply to study a specific subject, so it is much more useful to know how good your university is for that subject than to know how good it is ‘on average’.

We’ll rank the Russell Group universities in a few popular subjects to illustrate the difference in subject rankings vs overall rankings. First, the best Russell Group universities for Law.

If you want to become a lawyer, we see that Cambridge comes in as the best Russell Group university for Law, achieving first place in both rankings. Oxford slips from joint first place overall to third. Durham jumps from 5^th in the overall table to 4^th  here, KCL jumps from 12^th to 5^th, and Glasgow from 17^th to 8^th. Imperial does not feature as it does not offer Law.

Our full guide to best UK universities for law contains more information.

University	CUG	Guardian	Overall Rank
Cambridge	1	2	1
LSE	3	1	2
Oxford	2	3	3
Durham	5	4	4
UCL	4	6	5
KCL	6	5	6
Bristol	7	10	7
Glasgow	9	9	8
Edinburgh	16	8	9

Best Russell Group Universities for History

LSE is the best Russell Group university for History according to the league tables, with Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham in joint second. Other Russell Groups which seem to have a particular strength in History are Warwick and UCL. Imperial does not feature as it does not offer History. You can read more about the best UK universities for History, including non-Russell Group institutions, in our dedicated guide.

Here are the CUG and Guardian rankings of the best Russell Groups for History. Remember, we’re only comparing the Russell Group universities to each other, not to all universities in the UK.

University	CUG	Guardian	Overall Rank
LSE	1	1	1
Oxford	3	3	2=
Cambridge	4	2	2=
Durham	2	4	2=
Warwick	6	5	5
UCL	5	9	6=
Bristol	8	6	6=
Birmingham	14	7	8
KCL	11th	12th	9

Best Russell Group Universities for Maths

Interestingly, this looks pretty similar to our overall Russell Group rankings list. Oxford and Imperial (a STEM-focused institution) take the top two spots as the best Russell Group universities for Maths, with Cambridge coming in third.

LSE is the fourth best Russell Group overall but comes in seventh here, perhaps reflecting the fact that its excellence is more in the social sciences than STEM. Warwick performs well, coming in fourth place vs its overall Russell Group ranking of sixth.

University	CUG	Guardian	Overall Rank
Oxford	2	1	1=
Imperial	1	2	1=
Cambridge	3	3	3
Warwick	4	4	4
Bristol	5	5	5
Durham	6	5	6
LSE	7	6	7
UCL	8	7	8
Edinburgh	12	9	9

Conclusion: the Russell Group Unis Ranked

While the Russell Group is often seen as a hallmark of academic excellence, our rankings show that there’s plenty of nuance within the group itself.

Oxford and Cambridge dominate overall as the top Russell Group universities, with two other G5 institutions (Imperial and LSE) and Durham rounding out the top five. However, subject-specific rankings reveal strengths elsewhere – for example, LSE for History and Warwick for Maths.

While league tables offer useful insights and give us a guide to the best Russell Group universities, they should be just one of many tools students use when choosing a university. Its strength in your specific subject, your subjective ‘feeling’ when visiting, location, facilities, and student experience also matter greatly.

If you would like personal advice on where to apply or support with your application to a top university, explore our UK university application support or book a free consultation to discover how we can help.