Revealed: The Russell Group unis where classism is most prevalent on campus

University stereotypes have existed for years, and whilst may seem harmless, they’re often based on classist ideals. Not only are they overused, but are a lot of

Whether it’s the daddy’s money, quarter zips, ski season lifestyles, or the sea of Apple products that take over most university campuses, the difference in wealth is unavoidable.

Many students from working class backgrounds find it hard to adjust to university life when surrounded by such realities, and with 17 of the 24 Russell Group unis failing to recruit enough working class students, this is no surprise.

Working class individuals make up 20 per cent of undergraduate students at Russell Groups, so we looked at which universities have the worst classism issues across the UK.

1. Bristol

According to the Times and Sunday Times’ UK University Rankings 2025, 24.6 per cent of UoB students attended private school (compared to the 6.5 per cent of schoolchildren who attended private schools in January 2024).

An investigation by The Bristol Tab found 88.1 per cent of students agreed there is an issue with the classism culture at Bristol Uni.

Both the university and SU have measures in place to support state school students during applications through to their studies, with contextual offers and bursary schemes and the 93 per cent club, a SU affiliated society which runs to create a home for state school students being an example of this.

2. University of Oxford and University of Cambridge

Whilst these two pretentious and historical universities have been thought to have improved the diversity of their student bodies, research still shows they align with the interests of privileged groups.

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Data shows Cambridge is made up of 28.2 per cent of private school students.

Data revealed how Oxford is made up of 31.4 per cent, of private school students.  The university’s tradition of “trashing,” where students celebrate the end of exams with confetti and champagne, has also become financially burdensome. An introduction of £150 fines for these celebrations has disproportionately affected working class students, making participation in these traditions much less accessible.

The Bullingdon Club has also been used as an example of the university’s elitist culture and its existence highlights longstanding class divisions within the university

3. UCL and Imperial

Imperial College of Science and Technology building in London

In 2021, data from Higher Education showed that UCL missed the benchmark of working-class students by -2.6.

In 2022, UCL apologised for a “culture of unacceptable behaviour” at its Bartlett School of Architecture. A comprehensive review revealed systemic issues, including elitism and discriminatory practices, which disproportionately affected students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Imperial College London has 33 per cent of its students from private school background. Students at the uni have also reported instances where their regional accents or state school backgrounds led to classist comments. One Imperial student was also reportedly told: “You speak remarkably well for a state educated person.”

4. University of Exeter

Exeter Uni ranked fifth in missing working class benchmarks, with an expected benchmark was 8.1, but a shortfall of -1.8, according to data from HESA.

A contributor at Expose wrote: “It was incredibly strange coming into my first year accommodation and making new friends, only to find out they knew 10 or 20 other people at the university already from school” and the divide only became less obvious “because I have found financially like-minded people to spend time with” rather than the main crowd of people at the university.

Dubbed as “Durham of the South”, Exeter is also regarded to have a higher proportion of upper class students from wealthy backgrounds. 30.3 per cent of students attended private schools, as per data from The Times and Sunday Times‘s UK University Rankings 2025

5. University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Uni also faces classism issues, as well as having prejudice between English and Scottish students.

One video from the BBC shows students Olivia Gallosi and Roni Sharp discussing their experiences of people being “very judgmental” for having to work at university. They note now people’s “opinion changes” once they find out they were Scottish, not English.

Class prejudice was something they noticed “straight away” when joining their uni halls of residence, unsurprising as the University of Edinburgh ranks fifth in the UK, having 31.8 per cent private school students.

The issues are overtly obvious as the university warned its students not to be “snobs” toward their peers from Scottish and working-class backgrounds.

6. University of Leeds

Leeds has an ongoing classism issue between the city’s two universities: the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett. This rivalry is particularly seen during the Varsity event, where both universities compete against each other in various sporting events.

A local investigation by The Leeds Tab found chants from UOL toward Beckett were “overtly classist”, insinuating they “can’t pay your student loan”, or shouting “it’s not my fault you are poor.”

Lucy, a 23 year old student at Leeds told The Tab: “I think classism pretty much reigns unchecked at Leeds. I know a lot of students from less affluent backgrounds who have spoken about a real sense of isolation and alienation, whether that’s stemming from jokes about their accents or more overt scenarios like having to miss seminars to work jobs/sort childcare.

“I find there’s a culture of ‘playing poor’ whilst at uni, or being on a kind of ‘poverty safari’, but the reality remains that if those people max out their overdraft, they won’t be going without food or heating – their family is a safety net and the risk levels just aren’t the same.

“I think a lot of the classist undercurrents stem from a misunderstanding that for some students they don’t have that luxury, and they’re at uni to get a degree first, rather than being privileged enough to just see it as a piss up and have ‘the best years of their life’. I don’t think it’s spoken about enough – and when it is, it’s usually just to mock it through chav jokes or ‘povvo’ chants.”

A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: “The university works hard to ensure that our talented students come from all different backgrounds. Being a socially diverse university is a great strength and helps to enrich the lives of everyone studying, teaching and working with us.

“We know that class-based stereotypes are unacceptably widespread within society and we have a responsibility to tackle this within our own community. Discrimination of any kind has no place here and we ask anyone who has experienced these behaviours to report them to us.

“We understand that access to university cannot be looked at in isolation from its culture, and that all students need to feel a sense of belonging to thrive. At the university, we continue to work in partnership with our students to address this so that we can be an inclusive and supportive educational environment to all students, irrespective of their background or circumstances.”

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford said: “The university continues to encourage students to celebrate their exams in a responsible and respectful way through the ‘Exams: Celebrate SMART’ campaign, and to proactively provide guidance to students around exam venues and the city on acceptable behaviour. As in previous years it is encouraging that to-date the vast majority of students have engaged positively with this message.”

A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “At Bristol, we’re committed to supporting all our students to succeed. Our new Access and Participation Plan, launching in September, outlines a variety of initiatives aimed at closing gaps in access, success, and progression.

“While we know we still have more work to do to fully achieve our aims, the data shows we’re moving in the right direction. Our student body is becoming more diverse, with an increase in state-school students (75.5 per cent in 2024, up from 72.3 per cent in 2023), as well as more students from minority ethnic backgrounds and from areas with historically low progression rates.”

The University of Cambridge, University of Exeter, University of Leeds and UCL were contacted for comment.