The Complete University Guide for 2026 is out, and lots of Russell Group unis actually improved this year. That’s nice for them. One Russell Group uni went up a whole nine places. Slay.
If you’re nosy, here’s the full list of where every Russell Group uni ranked in the Complete University Guide for 2026, plus a rundown of which Russell Group unis crashed and burned in the league tables this year instead.
So, here are all the Russell Group unis that actually improved this year, according to the Complete University Guide for 2026.
University of Bristol – up one place
Bristol moved from 16th to 15th. The uni got an especially high score for the quality of its research.
Queen’s University Belfast – up one place
The one Irish Russell Group uni went up from 25th to 24th. Yay for them. Queen’s got great scores for graduate prospects.
University of Warwick – up one place
Warwick Uni moved up one place from 10th to 9th.
Durham University – up two places
Durham is so pretty (well, this college is, anyway)
The uni moved up two spots from seventh to fifth, and knocked Imperial College London down two places. Durham spent way more money on facilities than Imperial did, and has a slightly higher student satisfaction score.
University of Leeds – up two places
Leeds spent a huge amount of money on academic services, which boosted its rank from 23rd to 21st.
University of Sheffield – up two places
Sheffield and Warwick have the joint highest student satisfaction score of all the Russell Group unis: 3.17 out of 5. This helped Sheffield move up from 18th to 16th place.
University of Exeter – up three places
Exetaaaaah hopped up three places from 14th to 11th. The Complete University Guide for 2026 ranks Exeter above University College London (UCL), the University of Bristol, and the University of Edinburgh. This is super unexpected, because these unis have more academic reputations then Exeter.
University of Southampton – up three places
Soto moved up from 20th to 17th place. A very high 83.2 per cent of students were in jobs or further study soon after graduating.
University of Nottingham – up four places
Nots leaped up the league table from 30th to 26th place. Only 3.5 per cent of freshers dropped out, which is a pretty impressive stat.
Cardiff University – up five places
These Cardiff students are having a very wholesome day out and I’m jelly
Finally, some good news for Cardiff Uni. Although the vice-chancellor is proposing cuts left, right and centre, the uni has crawled its way up five places from 27th to 22nd. As a result, the University of Manchester dropped to 28th place.
King’s College London (KCL) = up five places
KCL jumped up five whole spots, from 24th to 19th. King’s students can now brag they go to a top 20 uni. KCL invested lots of money into academic services and facilities.
University of York – up five places
Er, maybe the spirit of Long Boi is watching over York. The uni went up five whole places from 17th to 12th. As a result, University College London (UCL) and the University of Birmingham both dropped.
Queen Mary University of London – up nine places
Queen Mary officially wins the prize for the most improved Russell Group uni in the Complete University Guide for 2026. Well, there isn’t any sort of official prize. But Queen Mary students should definitely be hyped that their uni went up a whopping nine places from 50th to 41st. It’s still the worst ranked Russell Group uni. But hey, let’s focus on the positives!
For more news about UK universities, like The Tab on Facebook.
