Lots of UK teenagers fantasise about going to a fancy Russell Group uni, where the campus looks like a castle and employers actually recognise what your degree is. But some Russell Group unis are way less popular among students than others. Here’s a ranking of how popular (or unpopular) the Russell Group unis all are in 2025.
A part of the Daily Mail’s University Guide for 2026, they used UCAS data to figure out exactly how many people apply for each place at all the UK unis.
The most popular Russell Group unis in 2025 are the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Imperial College London. These unis are great at helping students find jobs, and grads often earn really high salaries. Presumably, many UK students pick these unis in the hope of eventually become minted.
Even though Oxbridge are supposed to be the most prestigious unis in the UK and whatnot, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford get a very mediocre amount of applications per place. This is probably because getting into Oxbridge is a lot more complicated than applying for other UK unis. You have to send off your application by mid-October, and do extra tests and interviews. Many schools won’t help students apply to Oxbridge unless they genuinely think that student has a chance of getting in.
So, here’s a ranking of the least popular Russell Group unis, based on how many (or how few) students apply for each place:
24. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 14.5 applications per place
23. Imperial College London – 10.1 applications per place
22. University of Manchester – 9.3 applications per place
21. University of Edinburgh – 9.0 applications per place
20. Queen Mary University of London – 8.9 applications per place
19. King’s College London (KCL) – 8.8 applications per place
King’s girlies in some gorgeous dresses
18. University College London (UCL) – 8.6 applications per place
17. University of Bristol – 8.4 applications per place
16. University of Leeds – 8.0 applications per place
15. University of Sheffield – 7.7 applications per place
14. University of Southampton – 7.6 applications per place
13. University of Warwick – 7.5 applications per place
12. University of Oxford – 7.3 applications per place
11. University of Birmingham – 6.7 applications per place
10. University of Cambridge – 6.3 applications per place
9. Durham University – 6.2 applications per place
Durham looking dramatic
8. Queen’s University Belfast – 6.0 applications per place
=6. University of Liverpool – 5.9 applications per place
=6. University of York – 5.9 applications per place
=3. Cardiff University – 5.8 applications per place
=3. University of Exeter – 5.8 applications per place
=3. University of Nottingham – 5.8 applications per place
=1. University of Glasgow – 5.5 applications per place
=1. Newcastle University – 5.5 applications per place
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