Ranked: Russell Group universities by student reviews – Oxford and Cambridge miss the top 20

Queen’s University Belfast and Leeds are the highest-ranked Russell Group universities for student satisfaction in StudentCrowd’s latest rankings, with Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester failing to appear in the top 20.

The top 20 universities in the StudentCrowd University Awards are decided by real student votes. StudentCrowd describes its ranking method as important, citing UCAS research showing student reviews are the second most important resource for university applicants

Among the top 20 were 10 Russell Group universities, including Queen’s University Belfast taking the second spot. One student reviewer described it as “a stunning university with great amenities.”

The highest-ranked university overall was BPP University, a private provider – suggesting students at smaller, more vocationally focused institutions may report higher satisfaction than those at large research-intensive universities.

Another non-Russell Group that ranked highly was Strathclyde at number four, outranking Glasgow, which placed eight, by four places.

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Cambridge, which ranks first in the Complete University Guide’s 2027 league tables, did not make the top 20 — nor did Oxford, KCL, UCL or Manchester.

Here are all ten Russell Group universities that made the top 20 in the StudentCrowd University Awards 2026, ranked by their position in the overall top 20.

1. Queen’s University Belfast – rank two, score 4.45/5
2. University of Leeds – rank three, score 4.42/5
3. University of Warwick – rank five, score 4.37/5
4. University of Liverpool – rank six, score 4.36/5
5. University of Birmingham – rank seven, score 4.36/5
6. University of Glasgow – rank eight, score 4.35/5
7. London School of Economics (LSE) – rank ten, score 4.32/5
8. Imperial College London – rank 12, score 4.30/5
9. University of Bristol – rank 15, score 4.28/5
10. University of Edinburgh – rank 18, score 4.26/5

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