The Russell Group’s 24 members are world-class, research-intensive universities. They are unique institutions, each with their own history and ethos, but they share some distinguishing characteristics.

About Russell Group
Our universities believe people and ideas are the key to meeting global challenges. Through world-class research and education they are helping to create a dynamic economy, stronger communities and a better future for the UK. They maintain the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with local and national business and the public sector. Russell Group universities have huge social, economic and cultural impacts locally, across the UK and around the globe:

• They produce more than two-thirds of the world-leading research produced in UK universities and support more than 260,000 jobs across the country.
• They inject nearly £87 billion into the national economy every year.
• In 2018-19, 446,450 undergraduates and 155,655 postgraduates were studying at a Russell Group university.
• 32% of students are of non-UK nationality, attracted to our universities by the quality, relevance and reputation of research

Russell Group members also have a strong role and influence within their regional and local communities, collaborate with businesses on joint research projects and supply highly-qualified and highly-motivated graduates to the local workforce.

List of top universities of Russell Group:

1. University of Birmingham - Ranked in the top 100 universities globally, Birmingham is a founder member of the Universitas 21 global network of research universities. It ranks highly among employers seeking to recruit graduates and is an enviably diverse community, with staff and students from Birmingham and the West Midlands, across the UK and around the world.
2. University of Bristol - The university has over 20,000 undergraduate students, more than 7,000 postgraduate students and nearly 8,000 staff, who enjoy life in the heart of the vibrant and buzzing city of Bristol. Approximately 20% of staff and 25% of the student body are from outside the UK.
3. University of Cambridge - Its reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known world-wide, reflecting the high-quality original research carried out by its staff and the intellectual achievements of its students. The university employs more than 10,000 staff, while more than 12,000 undergraduate and over 7,000 postgraduate students live and work in one of the university’s 31 autonomous Colleges.
4. Cardiff University - Cardiff University is recognised in independent government assessments as one of Britain’s leading teaching and research universities and is a member of the Russell Group of the UK’s most research intensive universities. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework ranked the University 5th in the UK for research excellence.
5. Durham University - Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK. We are a collegiate university committed to inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham and in the world. We conduct boundary-breaking research that improves lives globally and we are ranked as a world top 100 university with an international reputation in research and education (QS World University Rankings 2022).
6. University of Edinburgh - The university has an outstanding history of discovery, invention and innovation, which include the theory of the Higgs boson, for which Professor Peter Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2013, and the cloning of Dolly the Sheep at the university’s Roslin Institute. Thirty-eight percent of the university’s research was rated world-leading, and a further 45% internationally excellent, in the most recent assessment of research quality in UK universities.
7. University of Exeter - The University of Exeter is a Russell Group university that combines world-class research with high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 27,000 students and is 15th in The Guardian University Guide 2022, and in the top 150 globally in both the QS World Rankings 2022 and the THE World University Rankings 2022. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the University ranked 16th nationally, with 98% of its research rated as being of international quality, while in 2017, Exeter was awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment.
8. University of Glasgow - Research excellence within disciplines and interdisciplinary teams are at the heart of the university’s strategy and are helping Glasgow to address global challenges. In 2013 the university’s Boyd Orr Centre won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its impact on tackling infectious diseases that blight agricultural communities in the UK and in many developing countries. In the most recent assessment of research quality in UK universities, 31% of the university’s research was rated world-leading and a further 50% rated internationally excellent.
9. Imperial College London - Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 20,000 students and 8,000 staff are working to solve the biggest challenges in science, medicine, engineering and business. Imperial is the world’s fifth most international university, according to Times Higher Education, with academic ties to more than 150 countries. Reuters named the College as the UK's most innovative university because of its exceptional entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.
10. King's College London - The university offers an intellectually rigorous environment supported by welcoming and caring traditions, and is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, learning and understanding in the service of society, both in the UK and internationally. King’s has more than 17,600 undergraduate and 11,000 postgraduate students, 29% of whom come from overseas.
11. University of Leeds - The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 38,000 students from more than 150 different countries. Founded in 1904, it is renowned globally for the quality of its teaching and research. The University strategy is values driven and rooted in a desire to make a difference to the world. By harnessing expertise in research and education the University will help shape a better future for humanity, working through collaboration to tackle inequalities, achieve societal impact and drive change.
12. University of Liverpool - Since the university received its Royal Charter in 1903, researchers at Liverpool have been pursuing novel interdisciplinary research that is helping mankind to understand and solve the problems it faces. In the most recent assessment of research quality in UK universities, 27% of the university’s research was rated world-leading, with a further 54% rated internationally excellent.
13. London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its research – fifty-percent of its research was rated world-leading and a further 37% internationally excellent in the most recent assessment of research quality in UK universities. In 2010, Professor Sir Christopher A. Pissarides was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics "for analysis of markets with search frictions". The school is a constituent college of the federal University of London, with over 4,400 undergraduates, 6,200 postgraduates and 3,300 staff. It has an annual turnover of nearly £300 million.
14. University of Manchester - Manchester was the first and most eminent of England’s civic universities. Our rich heritage of discovery, social change and pioneering spirit remains at the heart of all we do. Today, we’re part of the prestigious Russell Group of UK universities, with a global reputation for the highest level of research and teaching, as demonstrated by our position in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In 2021 we were placed 51st in the world and eighth in the UK.
15. Newcastle University - Newcastle University was founded in 1963. Its origins can be traced back to the School of Medicine and Surgery, established in 1834. It is a global leader in ageing and health, data, energy, cities, and the creative arts. Today, Newcastle University welcomes more than 28,000 students from 140 countries. It offers over 200 undergraduate and over 300 postgraduate degrees to choose from. Students learn from academics who are at the cutting-edge of their discipline.
16. University of Nottingham - The university’s foundations lie in University College Nottingham, a constituent college of the University of London set up in 1881, which was then granted its own Royal Charter in 1948. It was the first British university to establish a campus in Malaysia, in 2000, and the first foreign university to open a campus in China, in 2004.
17. University of Oxford - The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, dating back to the 12th century. It is one of the world’s leading centres of scholarship, a collegiate university with a turnover of more than £1.3 billion a year. More than 11,700 undergraduates, 10,900 postgraduates and around 13,000 staff work across Oxford’s four academic divisions and 38 self-governing colleges and six permanent private halls. The collegiate system is at the heart of the university’s success, giving students and academics the benefits of belonging both to a large, internationally renowned institution and to a small interdisciplinary academic community.
18. University of Sheffield - The University of Sheffield is one of the world's top 100 universities, renowned for the excellence, impact and distinctiveness of its research-led learning and teaching. As a member of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group, almost 30,000 of the brightest students from over 140 countries, learn alongside some of the best academics from across the globe.
19. Queen Mary University of London - With over 19,000 undergraduates, 7,000 postgraduates and over 4,600 staff, Queen Mary is one of the largest colleges of the federal University of London. It has awarded its own degrees since 2012. Queen Mary has made a strategic commitment to the highest quality of research, investing in cutting-edge facilities and recruiting the best academics in their disciplines from around the world. Queen Mary's students and staff come from more than 160 different nationalities and cultures, and in the most recent assessment of research quality in UK universities, 34% of its research was rated world-class, with a further 52% rated internationally excellent.
20. Queen’s University Belfast - Queen’s University has been making a difference to societies locally, nationally and internationally since 1845. Queen’s focus is on shaping the world around us through innovative, impactful and world-leading research which has made positive changes to people’s lives.
21. University of Southampton - The University has a turnover of over £525 million a year, around 6,200 members of staff and over 16,000 undergraduates and over 7,600 postgraduates, based in its five campuses across the city of Southampton and one in Winchester in the south of England. In 2012, the University opened a campus in Malaysia offering students the chance to study for engineering degrees across both countries.
22. University College London - UCL was one of the best-performing universities in the most recent assessment of research quality in UK universities, with 43% of its research rated world-leading and a further 39% rated internationally excellent. In 2014 the neuroscientist Professor John O’Keefe was a recipient of both a Kavli Prize in Neuroscience and a Nobel Prize for his discovery of specialised brain cells that allow humans and other animals to orient themselves.
23. University of Warwick - Despite its relative youth – it was founded in 1965 – Warwick has an acknowledged reputation for world-class research at home and abroad. In the most recent UK-wide assessment of the quality of research in universities 92% of the university’s research was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
24. University of York - With over 12,800 undergraduate and 4,000 postgraduate students, the university’s parkland campus is on the outskirts of the city of York in the north of England. The University has an annual turnover of almost £340 million and employs more than 3,800 staff. Just under a third of the University’s academic staff and 22% of its student body are from outside of the UK.

Our research-intensive, world-class universities play an important part in the intellectual life of the UK and have huge social, economic and cultural impacts locally, across the UK and around the globe.

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