Ranked: These are officially the most oversubscribed Russell Group universities

London School of Economics is officially the most oversubscribed Russell Group uni, according to new data released by UCAS.

UCAS’ new 2023 end-of-cycle data tells us how many applications each university got compared to the number of students accepted. From this, we then worked out the acceptance rate of each Russell Group to work out the most oversubscribed Russell Group unis.

At the bottom of the list is the University of Exeter which has an acceptance rate of 20.7 per cent after receiving 38,450 applications for 7,715 places. This is closely followed by Newcastle with an acceptance rate of 17.48 per cent after receiving 35,980 applications for 6,290 places.

Then the Russell Group with the most applications per place is LSE with a 6.92 per cent acceptance rate. LSE had 26,240 applications for only 1,815 spaces.

But the Russell Group that is the most popular with the most applications overall is The University of Manchester. Manchester received a huge 35,980 applications and accepted 9,630 of them meaning it’s the sixth most oversubscribed Russell Group uni.

So, from least oversubscribed to most oversubscribed, these are the Russell Group universities with the highest amount of applications per place:

24. University of Exeter – 20.7 per cent

Of the 38,450 people who applied to study at Exeter, 7,715 were accepted, making it the least oversubscribed Russell Group uni.

23. Newcastle University – 14.48 per cent

At Newcastle, 14.48 per cent of all the people who applied were accepted. This is 6,290 students out of 35,980 who applied on UCAS.

22. University of York – 17.5 per cent

30,240 people applied to study at York and 5,185 of them were accepted.

21. Cardiff University – 16.99 per cent

7,875 students started at Cardiff this year from the 46,355 who applied.

20. Durham University – 16.63 per cent

34,15o students applied to study at Durham and 4,655 of them were accepted.

19. Queen’s University Belfast – 16.38 per cent

29,825 students applied for Queen’s according to UCAS and 4,885 of them were admitted.

18. University of Cambridge – 16.25 per cent

At Cambridge, 21,940 people applied for 3,565 places.

17. University of Glasgow – 16.23 per cent

37,300 students applied for Glasgow and 6,055 of them were accepted.

16. University of Liverpool – 14.82 per cent

Of all the 43,975 students who applied, 6,515 were accepted giving Liverpool an acceptance rate of 14.82 per cent.

15. University of Nottingham – 13.46 per cent

At Nottingham, 56,890 students applied for 7,655 places.

14. University of Oxford – 13.45 per cent

Oxford and Cambridge’s admissions processes are much longer, meaning on average fewer people tend to apply. 24,230 people applied to study at Oxford and 3,260 were accepted.

13. University of Sheffield – 13.33 per cent

At Sheffield, 5,820 students were accepted from the initial 43,665 who applied.

12. University of Birmingham – 12.43 per cent

At Birmingham, 56,645 people applied for 7,040 places.

11. University of Warwick – 12.36 per cent

47,130 people applied for a place at Warwick and 5,825 of them were accepted.

10. Queen Mary University of London – 11.68 per cent

As the 10th most oversubscribed Russell Group, QMUL had 41,155 students apply for 4,805 spaces.

9. University of Southampton – 11.56 per cent

At Southampton, 45,280 students applied for just 5,235 spaces.

8. University of Bristol – 11.31 per cent

61,490 students applied to study at Bristol and 6,955 of them were accepted.

7. University of Leeds – 11.29 per cent

With an acceptance rate of 11.29 per cent, 69,085 people applied for 7,800 places at Leeds last year.

6. University of Manchester – 10.31 per cent

Manchester had the highest number of applications out of all the Russell Group universities with 93,450 people applying for 9,630 places.

5. Imperial College London – 10.2 per cent

Imperial is the fifth most oversubscribed Russell Group with 30,725 applications to fill 3,135 places.

4. King’s College London – 9.83 per cent

At King’s 6,810 students were accepted from a total number of 69,300 applications.

3. University College London – 9.79 per cent

Another London uni, UCL is the third most oversubscribed Russell Group. 77,615 people applied for only 7,595 places giving an acceptance rate of 9.79 per cent.

2. University of Edinburgh – 9.76 per cent

The second most oversubscribed Russell Group, a huge 71,135 people applied to study at Edinburgh for 6,940 places.

1. London School of Economics – 6.92 per cent

Officially the most oversubscribed Russell Group, LSE had 26,240 for only a small number of places at 1,815 giving an acceptance rate of 6.92 per cent.

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