Britain is home to some of the best universities in the world that also form part of the prestigious Russell Group. Russell Group universities pride themselves, among other things, on producing 68% of the UK's world-leading research and supporting more than a quarter of a million jobs across the country. It's not surprising then that some of them are particularly competitive, even when it comes to the brightest students from all over the world.
However, this doesn't tell the whole story. The offer rate (the percentage of students who receive an offer after applying) varies, and some Russell Group universities are easier to get into than non-members of this respected association.
The UK's leading student money website Save the Student compiled a list based on the UCAS (The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) data of the universities that make the least number of offers compared to the number of applications received. We also looked at the numbers from the latest HESA’s graduate outcome survey to find out what percentage of these universities' graduates earn over £30,000 a year at their full-time jobs:
University of Oxford (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 19.2%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 61%
University of Cambridge (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 21.8%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 67%
University of St Andrews (non-member)
Offer rate: 24.7%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 43%
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 26.1%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 79%
University College London (UCL) (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 29.5%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 63%
The University of Edinburgh (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 29.7%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 42%
Imperial College London (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 30.1%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 84%
King's College London (Russell Group)
Offer rate: 39.3%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 60%
St George's, University of London (non-member)
Offer rate: 40%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 57%
University of the Arts London (non-member)
Offer rate: 43.2%
The percentage of students earning over £30k: 18%
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