Revealed: These are objectively the poshest Russell Group unis in 2025

Everyone fears their university is overrun by rugby boys and posh girlies who think it’s normal to waste £20 on avocado brunches five times a week. But which Russell Group uni actually has the most Tarquins and Tatianas? Here’s exactly which Russell Group unis are the poshest in 2025.

So, the Office for Students publishes data on how many students at each uni come from each of England’s five deprivation quintiles, according to the indices of multiple deprivation (IMD). So, the students from the least deprived quintile come from the most privileged areas of the country. The Russell Group unis which have the most of these students are essentially the poshest ones. You following me?

Surprisingly, the poshest Russell Group uni in 2025 is the University of Southampton. Over 40 per cent of the students there come from the bougiest backgrounds. the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol weren’t far behind. I guess the stereotype of Exetaaaaaah being full of posh private school kids is kind of true.

At the other end of the scale, the London unis generally have far fewer students from the poshest areas. Only 14.8 per cent of students at Queen Mary University of London are from the most privileged backgrounds.

For context, 22 per cent of UK uni students are from the least deprived quintile. So Russell Group unis do have a lot more students from these posher backgrounds than other UK unis do.

This data comes from the Office for Students and refers to people who were freshers in 2022/2023. Data was only available for unis in England, which is why Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Queen’s University Belfast have been left out of the list (sorry).

Most Read

Police release statement after influencer Emilie Kiser’s son tragically drowns in pool

Julianne Moore, Milly Alcock and Meghann Fahy explain the ending of Netflix’s Sirens

Paul is apparently dating someone after MAFS Australia and erm, you might recognise her

So, here are the Russell Group unis ranked by poshness, based on the percentage of students who come from the least deprived quintile:

20. Queen Mary University of London – 14.8 per cent

19. King’s College London – 20.1 per cent

18. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 25.0 per cent

17. University College London (UCL) – 26.8 per cent

16. Imperial College London – 27.7 per cent

15. University of Manchester – 28.7 per cent

A rare image of Manchester students not in a club

14. University of Leeds – 31.6 per cent

13. University of Birmingham – 32.4 per cent

12. University of Liverpool – 32.5 per cent

11. University of Warwick – 33.4 per cent

10. Durham University – 33.6 per cent

9. University of Oxford – 34.4 per cent

=7. Newcastle University – 35.4 per cent

=7. University of Sheffield – 35.4 per cent

6. University of York – 35.6 per cent

A moment of appreciation please for how pretty York is

=4. University of Cambridge – 35.9 per cent

=4. University of Nottingham – 35.9 per cent

3. University of Bristol – 36.5 per cent

2. University of Exeter – 36.9 per cent

1. University of Southampton – 40.2 per cent

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

Featured image of the University of Bristol by Cd5464 via creative commons license.