Revealed: The Russell Group unis where students are most addicted to vaping

Well gals, selling single-use vapes officially becomes illegal in England and Wales on 1st June 2025. Maybe you’re entering a period of mourning. Or maybe you’re relieved all club toilets will no longer reek of blue strawberry raspberry cherry fizz lemonade ice cream cappuccino. Whatever your view, you can’t deny that this ban will have a big impact on UK student culture. In a survey by The Tab, 57 per cent of UK students admitted they were addicted to vaping. But some Russell Group unis will be feeling the loss of disposable vapes much more deeply.

The Tab surveyed 6,000 UK unis students about their drug and vaping habits. The results are kind of shocking, not going to lie. At one Russell Group uni, more than two thirds of students say they’re addicted to vaping. Yikes. I guess they’ll have to stockpile vapes before the ban this weekend.

The Russell Group uni were students are the least addicted to vaping is Imperial College London. I guess they’re all too busy updating their LinkedIns and nabbing top grad jobs to have a cheeky vape. Interestingly, the students at the University of Manchester are addicting to vaping a fairly average amount. This is surprising, because Manchester is just objectively the druggiest Russell Group uni. Erm, maybe the students there skip the elf bars and go straight to weed or ket?

So, here are Russell Group unis ranked by how many students there say they’re addicted to vaping:

19. Imperial College London – 48 per cent

=17. University of Bristol – 50 per cent

=17. University of Nottingham – 50 per cent

=15. University of York – 52 per cent

=15. University of Cambridge – 52 per cent

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=13. Durham University – 53 per cent

=13. University of Birmingham – 53 per cent

12. University of Exeter – 54 per cent

11. University of Liverpool – 55 per cent

=8. University of Manchester – 56 per cent

=8. University of Edinburgh – 56 per cent

=8. University College London (UCL) – 56 per cent

7. University of Sheffield – 59 per cent

6. University of Warwick – 60 per cent

No longer will students procrastinate revision by popping to the shop for a cheeky vape

5. University of Glasgow – 61 per cent

4. University of Leeds – 63 per cent

=2. Newcastle University – 64 per cent

=2. King’s College London – 64 per cent

1. Cardiff University – 67 per cent

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Featured image of King’s College London by KiloCharlieLima.