There are, like, a gazillion different league tables for UK unis now. This makes it pretty hard to keep track of which the best and worst Russell Group unis are supposed to be. To settle things once and for all, we worked out the average position of the Russell Group unis across all the big UK university league tables, then ranked them by this. So, this is the definitive ranking of the best Russell Group unis in 2025. I’m calling it.
The different league tables prioritise different factors, which is why Russell Group unis don’t always end up in the same places. Most UK uni rankings care about how satisfied students are with their teaching, how many get high-skilled jobs, dropout rates, staff numbers, how much money is spent on students, and how many UCAS points the freshers had. They differ on what other data they use. The Complete University Guide doesn’t care about how many students get firsts. The Guardian University Guide factors in how satisfied students are with how they’re assessed, and the average “value added score” of students, which other guides don’t bother with. The Times and The Sunday Times University Guide scores unis for “student experience” and their impact on the people and planet. The Daily Mail’s newly-developed rankings are a lot broader. They involve grad salaries, how much money the uni makes from research, and how many first-generation students are accepted.
The QS World University ranking is a bit different again. It’s based less on what students think, and more on what academics and employers around the world think. It doesn’t consider how happy the students are, or how satisfied they are with their teaching. It takes into account how many international staff and students there are, how sustainable the uni is, plus what the uni’s reputation is like among academics worldwide.
The best Russell Group uni is officially the University of Oxford, as it had an average ranking of 2.2 in all the 2025 uni league tables. Cambridge wasn’t far behind, with an average position of 2.8. Honestly, the lengths I go to in order to prove that Cambridge is still better than Durham (whatever The Times may say).
So, here are the Russell Group unis ranked by their average positions in the 2025 university league tables:
24. Newcastle University – average ranking of 41.4
=31st in the Complete University Guide, 39th in the Daily Mail, 81st in the Guardian, 22nd among UK unis in QS, 34th in The Times
23. Queen Mary University of London – average ranking of 36.4
41st in the Complete University Guide, 15th in the Daily Mail, 72nd in the Guardian, 19th among UK unis in QS, 35th in The Times
I’m afraid Queen Mary is objectively the second-worst worst Russell Group uni in 2025
(Credit: Nevilley)
22. University of Nottingham – average ranking of 30.4
=26th in the Complete University Guide, 28th in the Daily Mail, 50th in the Guardian, 18th among UK unis in QS, 30th in The Times
21. Cardiff University – average ranking of 28.8
22nd in the Complete University Guide, =30th in the Daily Mail, 37th in the Guardian, 27th among UK unis in QS, 28th in The Times
20. Queen’s University Belfast – average ranking of 28.6
24th in the Complete University Guide, =24 in the Daily Mail, 45th in the Guardian, 29th among UK unis in QS, 21st in The Times
19. University of York – average ranking of 25.2
12th in the Complete University Guide, =30th in the Daily Mail, 38th in the Guardian, 26th among UK unis in QS, 20th in The Times
18. University of Manchester – average ranking of 23.4
28th in the Complete University Guide, 19th in the Daily Mail, 36th in the Guardian, 7th among UK unis in QS, 27th in The Times
=16. University of Glasgow – average ranking of 22.4
=31st in the Complete University Guide, =22nd in the Daily Mail, 24th in the Guardian, 13th among UK unis in QS, 22nd in The Times
=16. University of Liverpool – average ranking of 22.4
Liverpool scores pretty consistently in all the different UK uni league tables, tbh
23rd in the Complete University Guide, 27th in the Daily Mail, =21st in the Guardian, 23rd among UK unis in QS, 18th in The Times
15. University of Leeds – average ranking of 21.4
21st in the Complete University Guide, 18th in the Daily Mail, =28th in the Guardian, 14th among UK unis in QS, 26th in The Times
14. University of Birmingham – average ranking of 17.8th
14th in the Complete University Guide, =20th in the Daily Mail, 28th in the Guardian, 11th among UK unis in QS, 16th in The Times
13. University of Southampton – average ranking of 16.8
17th in the Complete University Guide, =15th in the Daily Mail, 20th in the Guardian, 15th among UK unis in QS, 17th in The Times
12. University of Edinburgh – average ranking of 16.4
18th in the Complete University Guide, =20th in the Daily Mail, 13th in the Guardian, 6th among UK unis in QS, 25th in The Times
=10. University of Exeter – average ranking of 15.0
Hurraaaah for Exetaaaaah
11th in the Complete University Guide, 28th in the Daily Mail, 17th in the Guardian, 24th among UK unis in QS, 14th in The Times
=10. King’s College London (KCL) – average ranking of 15.0
=19th in the Complete University Guide, 11th in the Daily Mail, =21st in the Guardian, 5th among UK unis in QS, 19th in The Times
9. University of Sheffield – average ranking of 14.8
16th in the Complete University Guide, 13th in the Daily Mail, 16th in the Guardian, 16th among UK unis in QS, 13th in The Times
8. University of Bristol – average ranking of 11.2
15th in the Complete University Guide, 8th in the Daily Mail, 15th in the Guardian, 8th among UK unis in QS, 10th in The Times
7. Durham University – average ranking of 8.8
5th in the Complete University Guide, 14th in the Daily Mail, 5th in the Guardian, 17th among UK unis in QS, 3rd in The Times
6. University College London (UCL) – average ranking of 8.2
13th in the Complete University Guide, 5th in the Daily Mail, 10th in the Guardian, 4th among UK unis in QS, 9th in The Times
5. University of Warwick – average ranking of 8.0
Warwick students can rejoice as their uni ranks better than Durham overall
9th in the Complete University Guide, =6th in the Daily Mail, 7th in the Guardian, 10th among UK unis in QS, 8th in the Times
4. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – average ranking of 4.2
3rd in the Complete University Guide, 4th in the Daily Mail, 4th in the Guardian, 9th among UK unis in QS, 1st in The Times
3. Imperial College London – average ranking of 4.0
6th in the Complete University Guide, 1st in the Daily Mail, 6th in the Guardian, 1st among UK unis in QS, 6th in The Times
2. University of Cambridge – average ranking of 2.8
1st in the Complete University Guide, 3rd in the Daily Mail, 3rd in the Guardian, 3rd among UK unis in QS, =4th in The Times
1. University of Oxford – average ranking of 2.2
2nd in the Complete University Guide, 2nd in the Daily Mail, 1st in the Guardian, 2nd among UK unis in QS, =4th in The Times
For more like this, follow The Tab on Instagram.
Featured image of Imperial by Shadowssettle.
