Can a regular university become a Russel gruop uni?

I always wanted to know is this possible. I know russel groups are know for their research and excellent facilities. But there are unis such as Loughborough and Lancaster which are incredibly high in the university ranking, in almost all subjects. even better than most of the russel groups.
so is it possible for a regular uni to become a russel group.
I don't think so but im still curious about it

Reply 1

Elmoalem

2

Would also like to know if regular universities can become Russel group unis.

Reply 2

Computer Geek

18

Original post by mnak

But there are unis such as Loughborough and Lancaster which are incredibly high in the university ranking, in almost all subjects. even better than most of the russel groups

I think you mean some RGs, not most.

Reply 3

Estreth

11

The Russell Group is nothing more than a bunch of universities who got together and labelled themselves as such. They are all good universities, and the feature that they use to mark themselves out is that they are 'research-intensive', i.e. their academic staff produce a decent amount of reputable research. But there is nothing more special to it than that. Any university can become a member of the Russell Group by being approved as such by the rest of the club.

What is most remarkable about the Russell Group is their astounding success in marketing themselves as the official 'best' universities.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

#ChaosKass

4

The only two non-Russell Groups that match up to the required standard are St Andrews and Bath. All the others are nowhere near close, and would significantly taint the prestige of the Russell Group as a whole if they were to be accepted.

Reply 5

meme373267

14

Original post by #ChaosKass

The only two non-Russell Groups that match up to the required standard are St Andrews and Bath. All the others are nowhere near close, and would significantly taint the prestige of the Russell Group as a whole if they were to be accepted.

So Loughborough and Lancaster are worse than queens university Belfast a uni that is part of the Russell group

Reply 6

Legend15

11

Yes. In 2012, Durham, Exeter, QMUL and York became Russel Group universities.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 7

Joinedup

20

Probably not likely to be any more for a while...

Since the original members went from ordinary university status to russell group university status by virtue of deciding to declare themselves members of a new group they'd just invented in 1994, entry has been in dribs and drabs and not apparently connected to any significant changes in the exclusivity or quality of the newly admitted members.
The criteria for becoming a russell group member are opaque and decisions appear to be made as a result of horse trading in smoke filled rooms.

Teachers and school administrators make a fuss about the Russell group because across the cohort finishing their A levels having a high proportion going on to Russell group members is sort of a rough statistical indicator that the school is performing well, they're all more or less in the right half of any given league table and are mostly large and famous universities. But from the perspective of an individual student applying to uni it's actually not very important whether they get into an RG member or not.

Reply 8

mnak

OP

11

Original post by #ChaosKass

The only two non-Russell Groups that match up to the required standard are St Andrews and Bath. All the others are nowhere near close, and would significantly taint the prestige of the Russell Group as a whole if they were to be accepted.

are you sure because on the university league table Loughborough is at 7th place in 2017 and was 11th in 2016 (not for any certain subject-just overall)
link if you don't believe me-
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings

Reply 9

mnak

OP

11

and another question I needed to ask- who decides which university can become a russel group and can any russel group be debunked and become a regular university.

Reply 10

mnak

OP

11

Original post by #ChaosKass

The only two non-Russell Groups that match up to the required standard are St Andrews and Bath. All the others are nowhere near close, and would significantly taint the prestige of the Russell Group as a whole if they were to be accepted.

Loughborough is better than bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Warwick, Newcastle, Exeter and also just below Durham and st Andrew

Reply 11

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by mnak

and another question I needed to ask- who decides which university can become a russel group and can any russel group be debunked and become a regular university.

The vice chancellors of the russell group decide who can join their club.

Reply 12

mnak

OP

11

Original post by PQ

The vice chancellors of the russell group decide who can join their club.

thanks. so can a university get removed from being a russel group

Reply 13

Yaboi

17

Original post by mnak

are you sure because on the university league table Loughborough is at 7th place in 2017 and was 11th in 2016 (not for any certain subject-just overall)
link if you don't believe me-
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings

Loughborough is good for Engineering and Sports

besides that it's an average uni imo.

Reply 14

mnak

OP

11

Original post by Yaboi

Loughborough is good for Engineering and Sports

besides that it's an average uni imo.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?
the link above is the university league table- this is the research quality, student satisfaction, graduate prospectus etc- basically everything overall. Loughborough is 7th in that- not only for sport and engineering but overall for every subject, if it was only good at sport and engineering it wouldn't be so high up the ranking above like 2/3rds of the all the russel groups.
so I think you are mistaken to say that they only good at sport and engineering

Reply 15

C_Richards99

10

Original post by mnak

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?
the link above is the university league table- this is the research quality, student satisfaction, graduate prospectus etc- basically everything overall. Loughborough is 7th in that- not only for sport and engineering but overall for every subject, if it was only good at sport and engineering it wouldn't be so high up the ranking above like 2/3rds of the all the russel groups.
so I think you are mistaken to say that they only good at sport and engineering

HAHAAHAHAHA

The most useful metric for domestic league tables is 'Entry Standards' and Loughborough are ranked 30th for that with a measly 410 UCAS points. Only 48.3% of its subjects are in the top 10 (ranking 19th overall) - it is not a well-rounded university good for every subject, it is only good for sports (and at a stretch, engineering).

Original post by mnak

thanks. so can a university get removed from being a russel group

It's a self-defining group, the group decides who can join, anyone in the group can choose to leave. Offering medical training was a requirement, but I'm not sure that is still the case, but that was what kept certain universities out of the group.

Reply 17

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by threeportdrift

It's a self-defining group, the group decides who can join, anyone in the group can choose to leave. Offering medical training was a requirement, but I'm not sure that is still the case, but that was what kept certain universities out of the group.

That's never been a requirement. LSE was in the original group.

Reply 18

mnak

OP

11

Original post by C_Richards99

HAHAAHAHAHA

The most useful metric for domestic league tables is 'Entry Standards' and Loughborough are ranked 30th for that with a measly 410 UCAS points. Only 48.3% of its subjects are in the top 10 (ranking 19th overall) - it is not a well-rounded university good for every subject, it is only good for sports (and at a stretch, engineering).

I don't really think the entry requirement really tells if a university is good or not. look at Lancaster university, it has a higher entry than queen Mary university, which is a russel group. So saying that just because a university has a higher entry than the other doesn't mean it is better ( maybe in some cases).
your case on Loughborough may be understandable but look at other universities in the league table which are not russel groups like Lancaster for example. look at most of the stem subject (im using stem subjects as an example because they are usually considered as a whole harder subject- not to say others are not) and you can take notice of how in most if not all of them, Lancaster surpass 3-5 russel group universities on average and sometime Lancaster surpasses most of the universities which are russel unis in certain subjects.