14 Facts About Russell Group

Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom.

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.

In March 2001, the Russell Group decided against selecting a preferred option for the future funding of higher education, stating that endowments, a graduate contribution, increased public funding and top-up fees should all remain options.

In December 2005, it was announced that the Russell Group would be appointing its first full-time director-general as a result of a planned expansion of its operations, including commissioning and conducting its own policy research.

In January 2013, it was announced that the Russell Group would establish an academic board to advise the English exams watchdog Ofqual on the content of A-Levels.

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Russell Group is led by Chief Executive Dr Tim Bradshaw and chaired by Prof Sir Anton Muscatelli, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.

In May 2020 the Russell Group appointed the next chair Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, starting September 2020.

Russell Group currently has twenty four members, of which twenty are from England, two from Scotland, and one from each of Wales and Northern Ireland.

Four Russell Group members are constituent colleges of the University of London and a fifth London institution, Imperial College London, was part of the University of London until 2007.

All but two of the universities in the Russell Group are part of the Sutton Trust's group of 30 highly selective universities, the Sutton 30.

Russell Group universities are seen as "particularly creditworthy" due to their membership of the group, allowing them to borrow money at low interest rates.

Durham University academic, Vikki Boliver, published a report in 2015 claiming that the prestigious position of the Russell Group was not based on evidence, but rather successful marketing.

The other 22 members of the Russell Group sit in a second tier of universities along with 17 other "old" universities, mostly comprising former members of the defunct 1994 Group.

Twenty-four universities in the Russell Group are responsible for around half of the Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions of the UK university sector.