Ranked: All 24 Russell Group unis by NSS overall positivity – Birmingham tops, Edinburgh lowest

The University of Birmingham has topped the Russell Group for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2026, while Edinburgh scored the lowest of any Russell Group university at 79.4 per cent.

The results were released on 8th July. According to Times Higher Education‘s analysis of the NSS results, all UK universities saw a rise in positivity scores from final year students in all aspects, including teaching and free speech. Responses were even stronger for organisation and management, which was previously an area for improvement according to the Office for Students.

More than 360,000 students took part in this year’s survey, in which they are given 26 questions to respond to. THE’s analysis looks at universities across the UK, with a small number of institutions removed due to a low response rate.

The University of Birmingham ranked highest among Russell Group universities with a score of 87.2 per cent. The strongest university overall was Birmingham Newman University, scoring 92.1 per cent.

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University of Sheffield, ranked first among Russell Group last year, ranked third this year with a minor decrease from 86.7 per cent to 86.6 per cent. Imperial College London, this year ranked second, rose from 82.4 per cent to 86.7 per cent, with responses to assessment and feedback improving by 7.3 percentage points.

Here is the full ranking of Russell Group universities based on student satisfaction, according to the National Student Survey 2026.

1. University of Birmingham – 87.2 per cent
2. Imperial College London – 86.7 per cent
3. University of Sheffield – 86.6 per cent
4. University of Warwick – 86.4 per cent
5. University of Durham – 86.3 per cent
6. London School of Economics – 85.8 per cent
7. University of Liverpool – 85.1 per cent
8. University of Southampton – 84.1 per cent
9. University of Bristol – 83.9 per cent
10. University of Cambridge – 83.6 per cent
11. Queen Mary University of London – 83.6 per cent
12. University of Leeds – 83.4 per cent
13. University of Nottingham – 83.3 per cent
14. University of Oxford – 83.2 per cent
15. Queen’s University of Belfast – 83.2 per cent
16. University of Exeter – 83.1 per cent
17. University of York – 82.6 per cent
18. University College London – 82.5 per cent
19. Cardiff University – 82.4 per cent
20. Newcastle University – 82.4 per cent
21. University of Manchester – 81.6 per cent
22. University of Glasgow – 81.5 per cent
23. King’s College London – 81.3 per cent
24. University of Edinburgh – 79.4 per cent

Featured image before edits via Chrysi Chrysochou under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0