The Russell Group unis where student numbers have actually gone DOWN in 2025

Are we quite sure going to uni is really worth the effort and the money? Grad salaries have actually fallen in real terms since the pandemic, and the rent in uni cities is so extortionately high. It’s not surprising that loads of the UK’s fanciest Russell Group unis are actually shrinking in size.

The Russell Group unis in the UK used to offer more and more places to students each year. But last year, the total student numbers at loads of prestigious Russell Group unis actually shrunk for the first time in ages.

Fewer students mean UK unis are making less money from tuition fees than they used to. This isn’t helping several Russell Group unis with their low funds.

So, here’s a list of all the Russell Group unis which dramatically dropped in student numbers last year. This data comes from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the most up-to-date info on each uni’s website.

University of Birmingham

There were 38,710 students kicking about the Uni of Brum in the 2022/2023 academic year. But, the most recent report on the student population says there are about 35,313 students there now.

Durham University

Durham Uni had been getting bigger each year since 2009, but the student numbers decreased  recently. There were just over 22,200 students enrolled in the 2021/22 academic year, but 22,130 students in the 2022/2023 year. The uni website says there are 21,588 students there now.

Real life Durham students

Most Read

Helicopter pilot who crashed into Hudson River relayed one final message before fatal impact

Bonnie Blue shares shocking ‘aftermath’ of her second filthy world record breaking stunt

Here’s how to do the viral AI Barbie box trend with ChatGPT and become an action figure

Durham University says that this change in numbers is because there were more freshers than anticipated in 2020 and 2021. They’re now working to bring the number of students back down to their target of 21,500. The uni said: “We deliberately reduced our intake by almost 1,000 for 2022.”

Remember, 2020 and 2021 were the years when nobody did exams and lots of people ended up with higher grades than normal.

University of Exeter

Exetaaaah students had been multiplying year on year. There were 4,545 more students in 2022 than there were in 2019. But, the student numbers have started shrinking instead.

According to HESA, there were 32,825 Exeter students in 2023. Exetaaaah’s own website puts the number at 29,786 – presumably to account for students who dropped out. In 2024, the total number of students decreased for the first time in five years to 29,549.

University of Glasgow

Glasgow gained students each year for a decade. Glasgow had 24,432 students in 2013, then a huge 35,525 students in 2023. But the total number of students went down for the first time last year to 33,753.

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

The number of students at LSE was increasing steadily each year since at least 2017. But in 2024, the total dropped slightly instead. The number of students went from 13,918 in 2023 to 13,717 in 2024.

University of Oxford

At least oxford looks nice

The number of students at the University of Oxford has actually been decreasing slightly since 2007. I guess this is scientific evidence that it’s harder to get into Oxbridge now than it used to be. HESA says there were 26,945 students at Oxford Uni in 2023.  The Uni’s website says there are about 26,390 students there now.

University of Sheffield

The number of students at Sheffield is falling quite drastically, which is a big reason behind all its current financial problems. There were 31,475 students in 2023. The BBC reported that Sheffield has 2,200 fewer students this year.

University College London (UCL)

UCL says it had 51,058 students in 2023. But UCL’s most recent financial report reveals the number of students have dropped to 49,248.

University of Warwick

The Uni website says there was the full-time equivalent of 27,293 students. Apparently the number of students at this Russell Group uni dropped last year, and there were the only full-time equivalent of 27,044 students in 2024.

University of York

The Uni of York has snowballed over the last decade. They only had 16,105 students in 2012, but now there are 22,740. But in 2024, student numbers decreased slightly for the first time since 2012. HESA counted the number of students as 22,510 in 2023. The Uni of York website says the student headcount that year was 22,755.

For more news about UK universities, like The Tab on Facebook.