Omg, these UK universities somehow raked in even more money than Greggs last year

While a lot of universities are in financial turmoil right now, a few of the country’s leading institutions still seem to be raking it in – I’m talking billions in total annual revenue. In fact, some of the UK’s biggest universities actually managed to make more money than Greggs did.

The bakery chain made £1.6bn last year thanks to our collective appetite for sausage rolls. I’m still trying to work out whether that’s a figure us Brits should be impressed by or embarrassed about.

A new study by King’s College London (KCL) revealed just how much some unis are generating in revenue, with one institution turning over an eye watering £1bn more than the UK’s beloved bakery.

With that in mind, here’s a closer look at which UK universities reported higher total revenues than Greggs in the last financial year.

University College London

University College London via Pexels

Last year, University College London (UCL) made a staggering £2.07bn.

With over 50,000 students and a global reputation for research, teaching and innovation, UCL’s size and scope make it one of the most financially significant unis in the UK. A large proportion of this income comes from research grants and contracts, alongside tuition fees and other funding streams. These together help position UCL among the leading institutions worldwide.

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge via Canva

It’s probably no surprise to anyone that this uni made the list – the end of 2024 saw Cambridge’s total income sitting at a colossal £2.6bn.

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It’s also worth noting these figures don’t include revenue from Cambridge University Press, the academic and publishing division of the University of Cambridge. The uni has 31 individual colleges too, which all produce their own individual financial reports, rather than being collated into a single overall revenue figure.

A 2023 report did, however, find the University of Cambridge contributed nearly £30bn to the UK economy annually, which is a figure roughly four times greater than the Premier League’s value. Fair play, Cambridge.

University of Oxford

Again, no surprises here: The oldest university in the UK turned over a whopping £2.9bn last year. According to KCL’s study, only six per cent of people correctly ranked the University of Oxford as having the highest income out of a number of organisations, despite its annual revenue being £1bn higher than Greggs.

Again, this figure doesn’t include Oxford’s 39 traditional colleges, all of which manage their own funds and generate their own revenue.

A few honourable mentions for the list include the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester, and Imperial College London, which, although they don’t quite generate as much money as your annual sausage roll habit does, aren’t falling too shy of that sum either.

The University of Edinburgh and the University of Manchester both earned £1.4bn last year, while Imperial wasn’t far behind at a total annual revenue of £1.3bn.

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Featured image via Canva