Pret A Manger Uni Guide: Russell Groups ranked by number of Prets within a mile of campus

When was the last time you read a university ranking and didn’t yawn? How about a guide to the best Russell Groups in the country? You probably didn’t even send it to the flat group chat. When we think about student satisfaction, there’s one thing that rises above the rest – something that truly makes students happy.

A fancy sandwich and a detoxing juice from Pret A Manger. No doubt one of your mates has the infamous subscription, one of them can’t live without an iced latte before a lecture, and the other one still hasn’t learnt how to cook, and survives purely on meatball wraps and green smoothies. I’d hate to think what their bank account looks like.

The only thing we all want to know is how far you’ll have to trek to grab a tuna melt toastie when you’re morbidly hungover and can’t bear the thought of ordering a McMuffin on Deliveroo. Well, as of January 2025, there are 474 Pret stores in the UK and 24 Russell Group universities. The real question is, which uni do you need to go to to ensure you’re surrounded by super club sandwiches? And which uni student union is the closest to an americano and a sweet treat?

14. University of Glasgow

My deepest condolences go out to students in Glasgow. There may be six different Pret a Mangers in the city, but with only one within a mile of campus for a pre-lecture fuel up, its sitting in rock bottom of the Pret A Manger Uni Guide. Sorry guys.

13. University of Liverpool

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They University of Liverpool has only just bagged second to last place here. Does a singular Pret A Manger exactly a mile away from the student union count as close? You tell me.

12. University of Sheffield

Its 12th place for the University of Sheffield, sorry guys. There may be a handful of Pret A Mangers around the city, but the closest is very nearly mile away from the student union. At least there’s one, right?

11. University of Bournemouth

It’ll take a stomp into the city centre to secure a smoked salmon sandwich at the University of Bournemouth, but the one Pret A Manger is doing wonders for the students who are sick of the spookily unbranded cheese rolls from the corner shop.

10. Newcastle University

Newcastle may be the Greggs capital of the UK, but it’s Pret A Manger store is barely a five minute walk from the student union, which is a dangerous game for the skinny scarf girlies to play. Not a single student will be saying no to a good old cheese and bean melt, but I wonder if anyone has tried to combine a sausage roll with a greens bowl before.

11. University of Southampton

There’s close, and then there’s Pret A Manger on Highfield Campus kind of close. Students in Southampton are quite literally in the optimum spot for an iced oat latte and a breakfast ciabatta. It’s a shame there’s only one store though. Better luck next time.

10. University of Cambridge

Shock horror, the University of Cambridge has doubled up on its Pret A Mangers! With one right by the student union, and another by the train station, sweet treats are in abundance across campus. That makes so much sense.

9. University of Exeter

Keeping it neck and neck with on-campus locations, students in Exeter have truly embraced the “posh” vibes with a Pret A Manger right next to the Forum Library. The city has two in total, which puts the University of Exeter in ninth place. Anyone up for a sandwich run mid-study session?

8. LSE

Only two Pret A Mangers next to a huge London campus? I’m just as surprised as you are. A comfortable eighth place for LSE.

7. University of Manchester

If students in Manchester aren’t parked up in a quirky independent spot in town, then you might catch them in one of the two Pret A Mangers close enough to campus to call it a “study date”. I will commend them though, a 0.3 mile walk from the student union gets you straight through the door, into the land of functional mushroom lattes and fancy paninis.

6. University of Bristol

The Pret A Manger Uni Guide really respects Bristol for not accepting the insane amount of of Gails cafes popping up across the city. It is sitting comfortably at sixth place with two Prets, with one literally being an exact mile away from campus.

5. University of Leeds

With a solid amount of three Pret A Mangers close enough to campus for a post-library sweet treat, the University of Leeds is safely snapping up fifth place in the good old Pret Uni Guide.

4. University of Oxford

Oxford and Leeds are in a tie with a grand total of three Pret A Mangers. Maybe the real Oxbridge rankings should be based on the fact Oxford have got one more Pret near campus than Cambridge. Now there’s a thought.

3. University of Edinburgh

With a total of six Pret A Mangers, and four within a mile of campus, it’s safe to say that University of Edinburgh students are tackling the Blank Street Coffee allegations with some force. Meatball wraps can be seen in every corner of a lecture theatre, sticking them right into third place.

2. University College London

17 different Pret A Mangers. Seriously. UCL students are running off nothing but caffeine, sandwiches, and the hope that their subscription doesn’t run out anytime soon. Surprisingly, this ridiculous amount of stores only leaves UCL in second place in the Pret A Manger Uni Guide. If only you could guess which Russell Group snapped up the top spot.

1. King’s College London

It’s the global hub of Pret A Manger, what did you expect? KCL has pipped UCL to the post with a grand total of 19 different stores within a mile radius of campus. Half of them are literally right beside each other, but I bet they’ll be all out of the one exact salad bowl you’re after every lunchtime. In other news, anyone fancy a Pret A Manger crawl?

I’m giving the University of Birmingham a special shoutout, just FYI. There are seven Pret A Mangers dotted around the city, but not a single one is even close to the campus. My heart goes out to the students having to get on the Selly Express just for a porridge pot.

Featured image via Canva