Group’s record questioned

The Russell Group of universities is self-selecting and self-promoting and contains many institutions not worthy of elite status, according to the former head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Mary Curnock Cook, chief executive of Ucas for more than seven years, said the 24-member group – including the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh – was a hollow brand, with some scoring poorly on teaching and other measures of educational success.

She said: “The Russell Group includes perhaps four or five genuinely outstanding universities, including, of course, Oxford and Cambridge.

“But amongst the rest there are some very modest performers. Some of their members would struggle to make the top 40 or 50 universities on many measures of student progress. A few score poorly on teaching quality too.

“It has become a hugely successful if hollow brand which is sadly distorting the market, student choice and political thinking.”

Russell Group chief executive Dr Tim Bradshaw said: “In the recent Research Excellence Framework exercise, 91% of our research was rated world leading or internationally excellent and we draw on this extensively to underpin the educational experience we give our students.”

He said the remarks were an unfair attack on the work done with schools, parents and community groups.