Russell Group

Russell Group

Formation	1994; 30 years ago (1994)
Type	Association of United Kingdom-based universities
Headquarters	50/60 Station Road Cambridge CB1 2JH[1]
Region served	United Kingdom
Membership	24: University of Birmingham University of Bristol University of Cambridge Cardiff University Durham University University of Edinburgh University of Exeter University of Glasgow Imperial College London King's College London University of Leeds University of Liverpool London School of Economics University of Manchester Newcastle University University of Nottingham University of Oxford Queen Mary University of London Queen's University Belfast University of Sheffield University of Southampton University College London University of Warwick University of York
Key people	Tim Bradshaw (chief executive) Chris Day[2] (chair 2023–2026)
Website	russellgroup.ac.uk

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,^[update] 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]