Primary school headteachers have been known to tell parents of four-year-olds: “If your child comes here, they will go to a Russell Group university.” That might be an enticing marketing pitch for a school, but is the Russell Group of universities worthy of it?
What started in the early 1990s as an informal club of prominent universities – so-called because their vice-chancellors met at a hotel in central London’s Russell Square – has evolved into a category of 24 universities that attract high numbers of undergraduate applications from across the UK and around the world.
The abundance of applicants allows Russell Group universities to be academically selective, requiring higher grades for entry. But as one vice-chancellor told the Guardian: “The Russell Group has successfully stage-managed the position that it is seen as comprising the best universities. Some are and some aren’t, but by and large this is nonsense. However, parents increasingly say they want their child to go to one.”
A glance at the Guardian University Guide shows that while Russell Group members dominate the top 10 places, other members of the same are further down the table. The top 10 this year sees the University of St Andrews, a non-member, once again in first place, while the University of Bath sits above Russel Group stalwarts such as Durham and University College London.
The reason is that the Guardian University Guide is aimed at undergraduate applicants, while the Russell Group is often defined as “research intensive” universities, meaning that substantial proportions of their activity revolves around research, which carries no weight in the Guardian’s rankings.
Asked to explain the group’s popularity, a spokesperson for the Russell Group says: “Our universities specialise in research-informed education, co-designed and delivered by world-leading researchers. This allows students to benefit from the very latest thinking in their field and access world-class facilities. As active participants in their learning experience, students are encouraged to pursue new knowledge and develop critical thinking skills.
“Our members pride themselves on providing students with the highest-quality teaching and learning experience, and that is reflected by the high continuation rates, progression to skilled employment and future earnings for students of all backgrounds who study at Russell Group universities.”
But figures compiled by the University Alliance group – which represents professional and technical institutions – found that satisfaction levels recorded in 2023’s national student survey were higher in university groups outside the Russell Group, where satisfaction was below the sector’s average.
“We know that young people and their parents or guardians feel incredibly anxious about choosing the ‘right’ university. What ‘right’ means is an important distinction, and one which we in education need to better explain,” says Vanessa Wilson, chief executive of University Alliance.
Wilson notes that university type makes surprisingly little difference to graduate outcomes: “It is categorically untrue that you must study at a highly selective university to secure the career you want – 85% of all university graduates are in meaningful work or further study just 15 months after graduating. This figure is almost exactly the same for all groups of universities: from the most highly selective universities to professional and technical universities, to specialist institutions like conservatoires.”
Rachel Hewitt, chief executive of the MillionPlus group of modern universities, says: “It’s not that some universities are lesser versions of other universities, it’s that there are universities that offer different things. That means there are great options for students across the whole system.”
Hewitt says that the strengths of the universities she represents became apparent during the Covid pandemic, when members of her group were able to “support students who had challenges through the pandemic, because they are used to supporting students from all sorts of backgrounds”.
She adds: “That strong support for students is built-in, ensuring all students go on to succeed.”