Ranked: Russell Group universities most reliant on international tuition – LSE comes out top

The London School of Economics derives 38.8 per cent of its total income from international tuition fees, the highest reliance of any Russell Group university.

Oxford and Cambridge, despite their global reputations for attracting overseas students, rely on international fees least, at 9.4 and 10.3 per cent respectively.

Cambridge’s low reliance on international fees comes despite it recently being reported that an international medical student there would face total fees of £456,000.

Nine Russell Group universities derive more than 30 per cent of their total income from international tuition, meaning a significant drop in overseas recruitment could have a considerable impact on their finances.

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The figures are calculated using HESA data on total university income and international tuition fee income for 2024-25.

Here are 23 Russell Group universities ranked by the share of their total income derived from international tuition fees in 2024-25, from most to least reliant. Since the University of Nottingham had not published its financial report at the time of HESA collating the data, it does not feature on the list.

1. London School of Economics – 38.8 per cent
2. University College London – 35.7 per cent
2. University of Manchester – 35.7 per cent
4. University of Glasgow – 34.7 per cent
5. University of Warwick – 32.3 per cent
6. Durham University – 32.1 per cent
7. Queen Mary University of London – 30.8 per cent
8. University of Birmingham – 30.7 per cent
9. King’s College London – 30.5 per cent
10. University of Leeds – 28.2 per cent
11. University of Edinburgh – 28.1 per cent
12. Imperial College London – 27.3 per cent
13. University of Southampton – 26.5 per cent
14. University of Bristol – 23.0 per cent
15. University of Liverpool – 22.6 per cent
16. Newcastle University – 22.3 per cent
17. University of Exeter – 19.8 per cent
18. University of Sheffield – 19.7 per cent
19. University of York – 17.4 per cent
20. Cardiff University – 15.9 per cent
21. Queen’s University Belfast – 12.9 per cent
22. University of Oxford – 10.3 per cent
23. University of Cambridge – 9.4 per cent

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