Russell Group unis are supposed to be extra prestigious and academic. But apparently the courses there vary quite a lot in difficulty. Here are the UK’s Russell Group unis ranked by how many students find their course challenging.
The National Student Survey asked 357,174 students about their experiences in higher education. As part of this, students were asked, “How often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?” Apparently students at some Russell Group unis are working way harder than others.
Unsurprisingly, students find the work the most challenging at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. Wow, who would have guessed that Oxbridge is hard?
At the other end of the scale, the University of Edinburgh is the Russell Group unis where students find the course the least challenging. King’s College London and the University of York weren’t far behind. I guess we all should have gone to those three instead and been way happier.
So, here are the most challenging Russell Group unis to study at in 2025. The percentage is the proportion of students who responded positively to the question “How often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?”
24. University of Edinburgh – 82.6 per cent
23. King’s College London (KCL) – 82.7 per cent
22. University of York – 83.4 per cent
Apparently York students don’t have to spend as much time studying. Lucky things.
21. University of Manchester – 83.5 per cent
20. Newcastle University – 83.7 per cent
19. University of Leeds – 84.0 per cent
=17. University of Exeter – 84.7 per cent
=17. Queen Mary University of London – 84.7 per cent
16. University of Glasgow – 85.2 per cent
15. University of Bristol – 85.4 per cent
=13. Cardiff University – 85.5 per cent
=13. University of Nottingham – 85.5 per cent
12. University College London (UCL) – 85.6 per cent
11. University of Liverpool – 85.7 per cent
A Liverpool student looking stressed in the library (hope you’re okay babes x)
10. University of Southampton – 86.6 per cent
9. University of Birmingham – 87.0 per cent
8. Queen’s University Belfast – 87.3 per cent
7. Durham University – 88.2 per cent
=5. University of Sheffield – 88.3 per cent
=5. University of Warwick – 88.3 per cent
4. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 89.0 per cent
3. Imperial College London – 91.5 per cent
2. University of Cambridge – 92.0 per cent
1. University of Oxford – 92.3 per cent
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