These are the 25 worst UK unis for student satisfaction – and so many are Russell Group

The 2025 edition of the Complete University Guide is here, and it reveals how fed up UK students really are with their unis. Here are the 25 UK unis that scored the worst for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide. A surprising amount of Russell Group unis made it onto this list, and I’m shook.

According to the Complete University Guide, the UK uni where students are most fed up with their experience is the Royal Agricultural University. The uni only scored 2.7 out of a potential 4. But lots of Russell Groups weren’t far behind it. *Takes deep breath* the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester, King’s College London, the University of Leeds, the University of Glasgow, Queen Mary University of London, the University of Bristol, Cardiff University, the University of Birmingham, Newcastle University, the University of York and University College London (UCL) all scored pretty low for student satisfaction. That’s legit half the unis on the list. Erm, maybe students who signed up to Russell Group uni courses didn’t realise they would have to work harder than other UK students tend to?

The Complete University Guide bases these scores on data from the National Student Survey (NSS). Remember, lots of factors can affect how a student feels about their uni. For instance, someone at a university with a big reputation might be miffed their uni didn’t live up to expectations. Or, a student at a less famous uni might be pleasantly surprised they had a better experience than they anticipated.

So, here are the 25 UK unis with the worst scores for student satisfaction in 2025’s Complete University Guide:

=16. University of Plymouth – scored 3.04

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=16. University College London (UCL) – scored 3.04

=16. University of York – scored 3.04

=16. Newcastle University – scored 3.04

Well, at least Newcastle University is kind of close to the beach?

=16. Queen Margaret University – scored 3.04

=16. University of Birmingham – scored 3.04

=16. University of Stirling – scored 3.04

=16. Cardiff University – scored 3.04

=16. Goldsmiths, University of London – scored 3.04

=16. Edge Hill University – scored 3.04

=13. University of Bristol – scored 3.01

=13. Queen Mary University of London – scored 3.01

=13. University of Brighton – scored 3.01

=10. University of Cumbria – scored 2.99

=10. University of Glasgow – scored 2.99

A moment of appreciation please for how peng the Uni of Glasgow’s campus is

=10. Bournemouth University – scored 2.99

9. University of Bradford – scored 2.98

=6. University of the Creative Arts – scored 2.97

=6. University of Leeds  – scored 2.97

=6. University of Buckingham – scored 2.97

5. King’s College London (KCL) – scored 2.96

4. University of Manchester – scored 2.95

3. University of Edinburgh – scored 2.91

2. SOAS University of London – scored 2.9

1. Royal Agricultural University – scored 2.7

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