These are the best Russell Group unis, ranked on things students actually care about

The first new university ranking of 2023 has just come out, and it may be the only one that really matters – because it rates UK unis, including all the Russell Group, on things students actually care about. Think the cheapest accommodation, cheapest pints, and how likely you are to get a job after graduating.

The new league table, from RateMyPlacement, looks at these metrics and more, including the uni’s Times Higher Education ranking, the number of nightclubs, and how much a monthly gym membership is. It found that the best UK university in 2023 is St Andrews, with a score of 100, with two Russell Group unis in second and third place – Exeter with 94.6 points, and Leeds with 94.2 points.

The best Russell Group uni for graduate prospects was Imperial in London, followed by the London School of Economics (LSE).

Queen’s Belfast is the Russell Group university with the cheapest rent, with the ranking finding the average accommodation costs for Queen’s students to be £95 per week. The next cheapest Russell Group uni was Sheffield – £100 a week on average.

At the other end of the scale, the most expensive Russell Group uni was LSE (£261 per week), followed by Edinburgh at £222 per week. And of course, London students see the most expensive pints at an eye-watering £6.

Seven of the league table’s overall top 10 UK unis are part of the Russell Group – with Sheffield, Newcastle, Imperial, Cardiff and Cambridge taking the top spots.

These are all the Russell Group unis ranked from best to worst in 2023, according to the new league table:

1. Exeter

2. Leeds

3. Sheffield

4. Newcastle

5. Imperial

6. Cardiff

7. Cambridge

8. UCL

9. Southampton

10. Birmingham

11. Manchester

12. Nottingham

13. Durham

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14. Glasgow

15. York

16. Oxford

17. Bristol

18. King’s

19. LSE

20. Edinburgh

21. Queen’s Belfast

22. Liverpool

23. Queen Mary, London

24. Warwick

You can see the full breakdown here

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