Russell Group University Rankings 2025: Your Essential Guide

The Russell Group universities are known for being the very best in the UK, as well as being some of the top universities in the world. But how do these universities perform in university ranking tables and which one is considered the best? This guide explores these questions to help you decide where to apply to.

Last Updated: 20th January 2025

Author: Matthew Amalfitano-Stroud

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Russell Group University Rankings 2025: Your Essential Guide

If you’re struggling to decide which universities to apply to, you’re not alone. Each year, thousands of applicants must choose just five of the 100+ university options available to them.

You likely want to attend the best possible university. In most cases, it will probably be a Russell Group University, which are generally considered the best universities in the UK. More than that, some Russell Group universities rank among the best in the world! But what exactly does that mean?

In this guide, we’ll explore what university rankings are, how the Russell Group Universities perform on various ranking tables and how important these rankings are to your decision-making process. Let’s get started!

Want to learn more about university ranking tables? Carry on reading below! Want to skip to the results from a specific ranking table? Select one of the options here:

What Are University Rankings?

Before we start, we should clarify what a university ranking table actually is.

A university ranking table is, simply put, a list of universities that have been ordered from best to worst based on a scoring system. While this sounds simple, it’s made more complicated by the fact that there is no one official university ranking in the UK or the world.

Instead, multiple organisations compile their own ranking tables, usually utilising different scoring standards from one another. These socring systems are based on a wide variety of metrics, including student satisfaction, graduate success and more. For example, there are the metrics used for The Guardian’s university ranking table.

Guardian score/100 – rating of excellence based on a combination of the other factors.

Satisfied with the course – the rating of the overall quality of the course, given by final-year students in the latest National Students Survey (NSS) given as a percentage.

Satisfied with the teaching – the rating of the quality of teaching on the course given by final-year students in the latest NSS.

Satisfied with feedback – the rating of the feedback and assessment, given by final-year students in the latest NSS.

Student to staff ratio – number of students per member of teaching staff.

Spend-per student/10 – money spent on each student, excluding academic staff costs, given as a rating out of ten.

Average entry tariff – typical UCAS scores of young entrants to the department.

Value-added score/10 – this score compares students’ degree results with their entry qualifications, to show how effectively they are taught – given as a score out of ten.

Career after 15 months – percentage of graduates who find graduate-level jobs, or are in further study at professional or higher education level, within 15 months of graduation.

Continuation – percentage of first-year students continuing to second-year.

Despite other ranking tables using similar metrics, they will often deliver different results on the final table. This is usually caused by slight differences in the data-gathering processes, changes in the metrics considered and different ways of interpreting and scoring the data collected.

These differences can sometimes be minor, such as a university shifting one of two places between lists, but can sometimes see the same university appear in vastly different spots on different lists in the same year. This is more common in subject-specific university rankings rather than general ones.- you can learn more about the rankings for the UK’s top courses in our collection of university rankings guides.

These rankings are updated each year based on the latest data, so the placements of universities aren’t set in stone.

Who Creates University Rankings?

As stated, there isn’t a single body responsible for ranking universities. In the UK, there are various ranking bodies, the two most popular of which being Complete University Guide and The Guardian. However, these two only rank UK universities. There are also organisations that provide global university rankings. These include Times Higher Education and QS Top Universities.

Are University Rankings Important?

Given what we understand about university rankings, you may be wondering how important these rankings actually are. On the one hand, if a university is consistently ranking highly on different lists, this means it must be a great university and one you should apply for.

On the other hand, a university that ranks lower may still be a great choice, as it may rank higher in future years or perform well in subject-specific rankings. Seeing a seemingly objective ranking of universities can put you in the mindset of only applying to those in the top spots, but this isn’t helpful for your application.

University rankings can be beneficial in guiding your application but basing all of your decisions on them can cause problems down the line. Here are multiple things to consider when using ranking tables:

Rankings are decided using a single score that is calculated based on many different factors. Some universities will excel in certain areas and fall behind in others, such as research quality or student satisfaction. This can then lead to a lower overall score. However, you can sort rankings based on specific factors, so you can see which universities are the best in the areas that you care about the most. This may reveal options that you hadn’t considered before.

The highest-ranked universities are often the most competitive ones and have the highest entry requirements. For example, Oxford and Cambridge are usually found at the top of any university ranking table, but they aren’t the best option for everyone. Each university has very high entry requirements for most courses and the acceptance rates for each university are far lower than most other universities (Oxford admits just 14% of applicants on average, Cambridge admits 16%). This means that you’re far less likely to earn your place at either of these universities versus one ranked lower on the list.

University rankings are great for compiling and interpreting data in a digestible form, but they don’t consider the more human elements of your university choice. The location, campus and overall atmosphere of a university will likely have a bigger impact on your university experience than the statistics provided by a ranking table, so it’s important to base decisions on your own personal preferences as well as quantifiable data. You aren’t going to perform as well at a university that you don’t like!

So, to answer the question “Are University Rankings Important?”, they can be when you’re starting your university search but should be considered in moderation when compared to other important factors about universities. A top-ranking university may not be the best choice for you and vice-versa, so be sure to keep your options open.

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Complete University Guide Russell Group University Ranking Table 2025

Now that we understand what university rankings are, let’s see where each Russell Group university ranked in these tables, starting with Complete University Guide’s UK rankings. Need a refresher on which universities are in the Russell Group? We have a dedicated Russell Group guide that explains everything you need to know.

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	13
University of Bristol	16
University of Cambridge	1
Cardiff University	27
Durham University	7
University of Edinburgh	15
University of Exeter	14
University of Glasgow	28
Imperial College London	5
King’s College London	24
University of Leeds	23
University of Liverpool	19
London School of Economics (LSE)	3
University of Manchester	22
Newcastle University	26
University of Nottingham	30
University of Oxford	2
Queen Mary University of London	50
Queen’s University Belfast	25
University of Sheffield	18
University of Southampton	20
University College London (UCL)	9
University of Warwick	10
University of York	17

Topping the rankings for Complete University Guide (CUG) is the University of Cambridge, which isn’t a surprise. As you’ll see on the other tables, the top spot in the UK is usually taken by either Oxford or Cambridge.

Beyond that, though, the Russell Group makes up the majority of the Top 10 but doesn’t take up every slot. All G5 universities appear here, alongside Durham University and the University of Warwick, but there are three spots taken by non-Russell Group universities, which doesn’t always happen.

The lowest-ranking Russell Group university is Queen Mary University of London, ranking 50th out of 130. Queen Mary is a dedicated medical school, meaning it only teaches a handful of courses and has far fewer students than other Russell Group Universities. This means that there is less data available, which may have impacted its position in the ranking.

For reference, Queen Mary ranked 12th in CUG’s Medicine ranking for the same year, indicating that it is actually a well-regarded medical school. The second lowest-rated Russell Group university was the University of Nottingham, which ranked 30th.

The Guardian Russell Group University Ranking Table 2025

Next, we have The Guardian’s rankings, another UK-based ranking table. Although it’s ranking the same universities, you’ll see a variety of differences in the placements of them here:

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	36
University of Bristol	16
University of Cambridge	3
Cardiff University	46
Durham University	6
University of Edinburgh	15
University of Exeter	18
University of Glasgow	14
Imperial College London	5
King’s College London	28
University of Leeds	37
University of Liverpool	27
London School of Economics (LSE)	4
University of Manchester	31
Newcastle University	63
University of Nottingham	62
University of Oxford	1
Queen Mary University of London	74
Queen’s University Belfast	43
University of Sheffield	20
University of Southampton	22
University College London (UCL)	9
University of Warwick	8
University of York	25

The University of Oxford took the top spot on this ranking table, with Cambridge actually coming in 3rd behind the University of St Andrew’s, a non-Russell Group University. However, the Top 10 universities are the same as CUG with differing placements.

Some Russell Group universities ranked far lower on this table, though, with three universities ranking below 50, including Newcastle University and the University of Nottingham. The lowest-ranked university was, once again, Queen Mary’s University of London, at 74th.

We already have some understanding of why this university performs poorly on general rankings (it places 24th on The Guardian’s Medicine ranking table), but we can see that Russell Group universities generally weren’t as highly placed as on CUG.

Time Higher Education Russell Group University Ranking Table 2025

We’ve seen two of the most popular UK rankings tables, where Russell Group universities are likely to rank highly. Now it’s time to see how these universities compare to the top universities from other parts of the world. We can do this through global rankings, including Time Higher Education (THE):

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	93
University of Bristol	78
University of Cambridge	5
Cardiff University	201-250
Durham University	172
University of Edinburgh	29
University of Exeter	172
University of Glasgow	87
Imperial College London	9
King’s College London	36
University of Leeds	123
University of Liverpool	160
London School of Economics (LSE)	50
University of Manchester	53
Newcastle University	157
University of Nottingham	136
University of Oxford	1
Queen Mary University of London	141
Queen’s University Belfast	201-250
University of Sheffield	98
University of Southampton	115
University College London (UCL)	22
University of Warwick	106
University of York	146

Impressively, the University of Oxford has ranked 1st out of all other universities in the world on this list. Most of the Top 10 is populated by American Ivy League universities, with just Cambridge and Imperial College London joining Oxford as UK representation.

Other universities that appear in the top 50 include UCL, King’s College London, the University of Edinburgh and the London School of Economics. Some of the high-ranking universities in the UK tables, like Warwick and Durham, didn’t fare as well in this table, appearing at 106 and 172, respectively. This indicates that the global rankings value different things compared to the UK rankings, as these universities outperformed many of the more successful Russell Group universities on this table.

Singling out the lowest-performing university is harder to do on this list, though. Due to how many universities are being ranked, universities are lumped into groups of 50 after the 200th position. There are two universities that fall into the 201 – 250 range; Cardiff University and Queen’s University Belfast. While we don’t have the exact positions for these two universities, we can see that Cardiff is listed above Belfast, which may indicate that it ranked higher.

Bear in mind that this table ranked a total of 2,857 universities in 2025. Even with the lowest university ranking as low as 250th, that still puts all of the Russell Group universities in the top 10% across the whole world, indicating that attending any of them will provide a great education. Again, the rankings become less important when you look at it from this perspective, so be sure to consider what you want out of your university experience rather than just the ranks that each university received.

QS Top Universities Russell Group University Ranking Table 2025

The final ranking table from 2025 that we’ll look at is from QS Top Universities. This is another global ranking table, so let’s see how the Russell Group fared:

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	80
University of Bristol	54
University of Cambridge	5
Cardiff University	186
Durham University	89
University of Edinburgh	27
University of Exeter	169
University of Glasgow	78
Imperial College London	2
King’s College London	40
University of Leeds	82
University of Liverpool	165
London School of Economics (LSE)	50
University of Manchester	34
Newcastle University	129
University of Nottingham	108
University of Oxford	3
Queen Mary University of London	120
Queen’s University Belfast	206
University of Sheffield	105
University of Southampton	80
University College London (UCL)	9
University of Warwick	69
University of York	184

In this table, we can see that Imperial College London outperformed both Oxford and Cambridge, coming in second place behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). the two Oxbridge universities both placed in the Top 5, but this is still. an interesting result when compared to the other tables.

In general, we can see that Russell Group universities performed in this global ranking table compared THE. Only one university ranked outside of the Top 200 – Queen’s University Belfast at 206 – although there are substantially fewer universities ranked here (just 1,503). However, there is also a smaller proportion of university-ranked outside of the Top 100.

There are more ranking tables available than the ones we’ve discussed, but these four provide a good idea of what a standard ranking will look like for Russell Group universities.

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Russell Group University Rankings 2024

We’ve now seen the rankings from four of the biggest organisations, but this doesn’t give us the whole picture. University rankings only offer a snapshot of a university’s reputation, so it can be beneficial to look further back to previous years. By doing this, we can see if a university is consistently ranked high or fluctuates from year to year.

Let’s take a look at the 2024 rankings to see how they compare to this year’s.

Complete University Guide Russell Group University Ranking Table 2024

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	14
University of Bristol	16
University of Cambridge	1
Cardiff University	21
Durham University	8
University of Edinburgh	12
University of Exeter	15
University of Glasgow	26
Imperial College London	6
King’s College London	24
University of Leeds	22
University of Liverpool	24
London School of Economics (LSE)	3
University of Manchester	19
Newcastle University	30
University of Nottingham	28
University of Oxford	2
Queen Mary University of London	50
Queen’s University Belfast	27
University of Sheffield	20
University of Southampton	17
University College London (UCL)	9
University of Warwick	11
University of York	17

The Guardian Russell Group University Ranking Table 2024

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	37
University of Bristol	17
University of Cambridge	3
Cardiff University	29
Durham University	7
University of Edinburgh	14
University of Exeter	18
University of Glasgow	13
Imperial College London	5
King’s College London	23
University of Leeds	27
University of Liverpool	36
London School of Economics (LSE)	4
University of Manchester	24
Newcastle University	67
University of Nottingham	59
University of Oxford	2
Queen Mary University of London	73
Queen’s University Belfast	50
University of Sheffield	21
University of Southampton	20
University College London (UCL)	8
University of Warwick	9
University of York	19

Time Higher Education Russell Group University Ranking Table 2024

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	101
University of Bristol	81
University of Cambridge	5
Cardiff University	190
Durham University	174
University of Edinburgh	30
University of Exeter	177
University of Glasgow	87
Imperial College London	8
King’s College London	38
University of Leeds	129
University of Liverpool	160
London School of Economics (LSE)	46
University of Manchester	51
Newcastle University	168
University of Nottingham	130
University of Oxford	1
Queen Mary University of London	135
Queen’s University Belfast	201 – 205
University of Sheffield	105
University of Southampton	97
University College London (UCL)	22
University of Warwick	106
University of York	147

QS Top Universities Russell Group University Ranking Table 2024

University	Ranking
University of Birmingham	84
University of Bristol	55
University of Cambridge	2
Cardiff University	154
Durham University	78
University of Edinburgh	22
University of Exeter	153
University of Glasgow	76
Imperial College London	6
King’s College London	40
University of Leeds	75
University of Liverpool	176
London School of Economics (LSE)	45
University of Manchester	32
Newcastle University	110
University of Nottingham	100
University of Oxford	3
Queen Mary University of London	145
Queen’s University Belfast	202
University of Sheffield	104
University of Southampton	81
University College London (UCL)	9
University of Warwick	67
University of York	167

As you can see there are a variety of consistencies and differences between the results from the two years. Oxford still topped the THE global ranking, Cambridge was still 1st on the CUG table and Queen’s University Belfast was the lowest-ranked university for both of the global tables. However, there are a couple major changes:

Why is any of this important though? It illustrates that a university’s ranking isn’t a definitive statement of its quality, as its placement can easily drop or rise between years. You’ll be at your chosen university for at least three years, so it’s likely that, even if you get admitted into the “top” university of your year, it may not stay that way for you’re whole course.

Average Russell Group University Rankings

Before we finish this guide, let’s look at the average rankings for each university in 2025. These averages are calculated for UK Rankings, World Rankings and all rankings:

University	Average UK Ranking	Average World Ranking	Average Overall Ranking
University of Birmingham	24.5	86.5	55.5
University of Bristol	16	66	41
University of Cambridge	2	5	3.5
Cardiff University	36.5	93	64.75
Durham University	6.5	130.5	68.5
University of Edinburgh	15	28	21.5
University of Exeter	16	170.5	93.25
University of Glasgow	21	82.5	51.75
Imperial College London	5	5.5	5.25
King’s College London	26	38	32
University of Leeds	30	102.5	66.25
University of Liverpool	23	162.5	92.75
London School of Economics (LSE)	3.5	50	26.75
University of Manchester	26.5	43.5	35
Newcastle University	44.5	143	93.75
University of Nottingham	46	122	84
University of Oxford	1.5	2	1.75
Queen Mary University of London	46.5	130.5	88.5
Queen’s University Belfast	49.5	103	76.25
University of Sheffield	19	101.5	60.25
University of Southampton	21	97.5	59.25
University College London (UCL)	9	15.5	12.25
University of Warwick	9	87.5	48.25
University of York	21	165	93

As we can see, Oxford has the highest average ranking across all categories, while Queen Mary University of London was ranked the lowest overall, as well as worldwide. However, we again need to consider the fact the it is solely a medical school, so this will impact rankings.

Queen’s University Belfast ranked the lowest in the UK, meaning it, alongside side Queen Mary, could be considered the worst Russell Group Universities, and Oxford the best. However, remember that rankings are just one consideration within the university application process.

Oxford and Cambridge may be ranked highest, but they’re also extremely competitive, which may not be best for you. Queen Mary may have ranked lower, but you may prefer attending a university dedicated to medicine. Your choice comes down to personal preference more than anything else.

That concludes our guide to Russell Group university rankings. We hope this guide has helped you understand how rankings can be useful in choosing your university and how Russell Group universities are seen within the education industry. These rankings update each year, so be sure to check back when the new tables are released by each organisation.

We’ve discussed how the top-ranking universities tend to be the most competitive, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get in. With the right preparation plan and effective resources and support, you can greatly improve your chances of getting into your chosen university.

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