The absolute best and worst Russell Group unis for student satisfaction in 2025

Russell Group unis get praised for being the best in the UK. Well, I’m afraid that when it comes to student satisfaction, they’re pretty mediocre.

Overall, students at Russell Group unis aren’t any more satisfied with their teaching than at other UK unis. The student satisfaction levels vary quite a bit across the different Russell Group unis.

The best Russell Group unis for student satisfaction are the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. It makes sense that Oxbridge students are gassed about their teaching, as they mostly learn in very small group classes called supervisions or tutorials, so get more air time with the lecturers.

This data comes from the latest National Student Survey results. The percentage is the proportion of students from that uni who gave a positive response to questions about how satisfied they were with the teaching at their uni. For context, the average figure for UK unis was 86.9 per cent.That’s bang in the middle of the scores for Russell Group unis.

So, here are all the Russell Group unis ranked from worst to best for student satisfaction:

24. Newcastle University – 84.1 per cent

23. Queen Mary University of London – 84.6 per cent

22. University of Manchester – 85.1 per cent

21. University of Edinburgh – 85.3 per cent

20. University of Leeds – 85.7 per cent

19. University of Glasgow – 86.1 per cent

Perhaps the weather in Glasgow is adding to the general gloominess?

18. Cardiff University – 86.3 per cent

=16. University of Nottingham – 86.4 per cent

=16. Queen’s University Belfast – 86.4 per cent

15. University College London (UCL) – 86.5 per cent

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14. University of Birmingham – 86.6 per cent

=12. King’s College London (KCL) – 87.0 per cent

=12. University of Southampton – 87.0 per cent

=9. Imperial College London – 87.1 per cent

=9. University of Liverpool – 87.1 per cent

=9. University of York – 87.1 per cent

Some cheerful-looking York Uni students

8. University of Exeter – 87.7 per cent

7. University of Bristol – 88.0 per cent

6. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 89.4 per cent

5. University of Warwick – 89.5 per cent

4. University of Sheffield – 89.6 per cent

3. Durham University – 90.7 per cent

2. University of Cambridge – 92.1 per cent

1. University of Oxford – 92.5 per cent

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