Russell Group

Russell Group
Formation1994; 30 years ago (1994)
TypeAssociation of United Kingdom-based universities
Headquarters50/60 Station Road
Cambridge
CB1 2JH[1]
Region served
United Kingdom
Membership
24:
Key people
  • Tim Bradshaw
    (chief executive)
  • Chris Day[2]
    (chair 2023–2026)
Websiterussellgroup.ac.uk Edit this at Wikidata

The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to government and Parliament. It was incorporated in 2007.[3] Its members are often perceived as being the UK's best universities, but this has been disputed.[4]

As of 2017, Russell Group members receive over three-quarters of all university research grant and contract income in the United Kingdom.[5] Russell Group members award 60% of all doctorates gained in the United Kingdom.[5] In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, Russell Group universities accounted for 65% of all world-leading (4*) research conducted in the UK, and 91% of the Russell Group's research was judged to be world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*).[6] In the 2023 Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), of the 20 English Russell Group universities which were assessed, 7 hold gold awards (35%) and 13 silver (65%). This compares to proportions across 128 higher education institutions of which 29% hold gold, 62% silver, and 9% bronze.[7] Their graduates hold 61% of all UK jobs that require a university degree, despite being only 17% of all higher education graduates.[8][9]

The Russell Group is named after the location of the first informal meetings of the Group, which took place at the Hotel Russell in Russell Square, London.[10]

  1. ^ "Disclaimer". Russell Group. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  2. ^ Emily Twinch (4 September 2023). "Newcastle vice-chancellor becomes Russell Group chair". Research Professional News. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  3. ^ "About". Russell Group. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  4. ^ Blackmore, Paul (29 March 2016). "Universities vie for the metric that cannot be measured: prestige". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023. 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.
    Pre-92 head.
  5. ^ a b "Profile" (PDF). Russell Group. June 2017. pp. 6–7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Russell Group universities produce more world-leading research than ever before". Russell Group. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  7. ^ McCabe, Grace (18 December 2023). "What is the TEF? Results of the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023". Times Higher Education.
  8. ^ "Graduates in the UK Labour Market – 2017" (Press release). Office for National Statistics. 24 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Government publishes destination data for the first time". Department for Education. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Four universities join elite Russell Group". BBC News. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2012.