Queen's University, Belfast

Separated from mainland Britain by the Irish Sea, Queen’s University, Belfast, is the only Russell Group university that you’ll need to catch a plane or ferry to (unless you’re coming from Northern Ireland or Ireland itself, in which case there’s a central Belfast train station – two hours north from Dublin).

The bulk of the university lies behind the picturesque Lanyon building, although over the other side of the road is the brand new Student Union, as well as a handful of faculties. The population is quite weighted towards Northern Irish students, but the numbers of foreign and other British students is steadily rising, and are definitely noticeable on campus. As for the city itself, it has been transformed into one of the most bustling urban centres in the British Isles, and has everything you’d expect of a capital city.

Famous alumni include the poets Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon, President of Ireland Mary McAleese, and the actor Liam Neeson.

"Some people seem born for university. They just cruise in and cruise through it. For me it was so unlike school it was a shock. I was a long way from home, I knew nobody at all, and had no idea whether academically I was destined for failure or a First. But I turned out to have the time of my life. Go live in halls of residence or join loads of the societies and you'll find lots of people apprehensive just like you, keen to make friends, happy to help out, eager to have fun. I still measure life around my time at university: before Queen's and after. I suspect that those of us who start fretful get more out of university than the cruisers who just pass through it." Nick Ross, Queen's University Belfast