Cardiff University (Welsh: Prifysgol Caerdydd) is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It merged with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST) in 1988 as the University of Wales College, Cardiff (University of Wales, Cardiff, from 1996). In 1997 it received degree-awarding powers, but held them in abeyance. It adopted the operating name of Cardiff University in 1999; this became its legal name in 2005, when it became an independent university awarding its own degrees. Cardiff University is the only Welsh member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities.[6] Academics and alumni of the university have included three heads of state or government, two Nobel Prize winners, 15 fellows of the Royal Society, 11 fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering, seven fellows of the British Academy, 21 fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences and 34 fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences.

The University of Liverpool is a public research university based in the city of Liverpool, England. Founded as a college in 1881, it gained its Royal Charter in 1903 with the ability to award degrees and is also known to be one of the six 'red brick' civic universities, the first to be referred to as The Original Red Brick. It comprises three faculties organised into 35 departments and schools. It is a founding member of the Russell Group, the N8 Group for research collaboration and the university management school is triple crown accredited.

Nine Nobel Prize winners are amongst its alumni and past faculty and the university offers more than 230 first degree courses across 103 subjects. Its alumni include the CEOs of GlobalFoundries, ARM Holdings, Tesco, Motorola and The Coca-Cola Company. It was the world's first university to establish departments in oceanography, civic design, architecture, and biochemistry at the Johnston Laboratories. In 2006 the university became the first in the UK to establish an independent university in China, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, making it the world's first Sino-British university.

Cardiff Metropolitan University (Welsh: Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd), formerly University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), Prifysgol Athrofâu Cymru, Caerdydd is a university located in the city of Cardiff.

The university offers degree courses in a variety of disciplines. Study is available at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, full-time and part-time, and research opportunities are offered. In the 2021/22 academic year, the University has 11,500 students from over 140 countries studying on two campuses in Cardiff, and more than 10,000 at 17 partner institutions in 15 countries around the world

In November 2021, Cardiff Met was awarded the title of UK and Ireland University of the Year 2021 by the Times Higher Education.

In September 2020 Cardiff Met was named the Times and Sunday Times Welsh University of the Year.

Cardiff Met was deemed to be the most financially sustainable university in Wales by the Wales Governance Centre in 2020

The University of Portsmouth is a public university in the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is one of only four universities in the South-East to be rated Gold in the Government Teaching Excellence Framework.

Portsmouth has educated a wide range of people, including Tim Peake, Grayson Perry, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, Sir John Armitt, Baroness Diana Maddock, and John Flint. Its alumni can be found worldwide, holding senior and executive positions in banking, politics, and civil engineering. Staff at the University include Alessandro Melis, curator of the Italian Pavilione at the XVII Venice Biennale, and astrophysicist and Eddington Medal winner Prof Claudia Maraston.

The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 30,000 students and 3,000 staff, it is the largest provider of higher education in the South West of England.

The university can trace its roots to the founding of the Newport Mechanics' Institute in 1841. The Newport Mechanics' Institute later become the University of Wales, Newport. In 1913 the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines was formed.The school of mines was later to become the Polytechnic of Wales, before gaining the status of University of Glamorgan in 1992.

The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With 18,410 students, it is the 57th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students (including the Open University). It has 2,915 staff.

The university was originally founded as the Plymouth School of Navigation in 1862,before becoming a university college in 1920 and a polytechnic institute in 1970, with its constituent bodies being Plymouth Polytechnic, Rolle College in Exmouth, the Exeter College of Art and Design (which were, before April 1989, run by Devon County Council) and Seale-Hayne College (which before April 1989 was an independent charity). It was renamed Polytechnic South West in 1989, a move that was unpopular with students as the name lacked identity. It was the only polytechnic to be renamed and remained as "PSW" until gaining university status in 1992 along with the other polytechnics. The new university absorbed the Plymouth School of Maritime Studies.