Way back in 2017 we launched the first ever University Top Trumps. The game generated huge excitement in common rooms and coffee shops across the sector, with many calling for more editions to stimulate fun and pleasure in an increasingly challenged HE environment. Supported by the creative genii at Wonkhe, the first sets really did capture the imagination of higher education card gaming fans across the UK.

In 2024 we unveiled a major refresh of the range which included a whole raft of new measurements and many more sets to collect. The sector once again rejoiced.

The 2025 suite of University Top Trumps is more of an evolution than revolution and has had some minor adjustments – principally to reflect the new financial realities – as well as some bold new additions to the series. We are sure these will, once more, be a smash hit among the higher ed card gaming cognoscenti.

So, here it is then, your 2025 University Top Trumps collection:

We are still expecting I Spy The Post-16 Skills White Paper, I Spy UK University Campuses in India and I Spy Promoting Free Speech and Academic Freedom to be published before the year is out. Or maybe not.

Note that I Spy Celebrity University Chancellors, I Spy Registrars and COOs, I Spy Sector Regulatory Agencies, I Spy Mission Groups and I Spy University Cafeterias and Canteens are currently out of print but may be updated subject to demand.

The New Set

Recognising the continuing challenges of the current sector situation this revised set offers scores for each university in the following key categories:

• Latest surplus/(deficit) [There are a lot more of the latter this time around]
• Height above sea level
• Instagramability
• Car parking spaces
• Coffee quality 

There is also a set of fun facts on every institution covering a range of subjects which might include:

• Civic engagement activity
• Nearest Greggs 
• Number of trees on campus 
• Latest KEF results
• Credit agency rating
• TEF rating
• Most attractive gowns and hoods
• Graduate Outcomes
• Total debt levels

Rules of the Game

All the cards are dealt among the players (for extra fun the players may decide to be a vice-chancellor, a PVC or a registrar). There must be at least two players, and at least one card for each player. The starting player (normally the player sitting on the Dean’s left or failing that the individual with the most impressive publication record) selects a category from their topmost card and reads out its value. Each other player then reads out the value of the same category from their cards. The best (usually the largest; in the case of debt levels though, lower is considered better) value wins the “trick”, and the winner takes all the cards of the trick and places them at the bottom of their pile. The winner then looks at their new topmost card, and chooses the category for the next round or ‘semester’.

In the event of a draw the cards are placed in the quad and a new category is chosen from the next card by the same person as in the previous round. The winner of that round obtains all of the cards in the quad as well as the top card from each player.

Players are rusticated when they lose their last card, and the ‘Chancellor’ is the player who obtains the whole pack.

‘Probably the most fun you can have in a university these days.’ A recently retired vice-chancellor

‘This data still looks pretty questionable.’ DK, Wonkhe

‘These are not the kind of skills we are thinking of.’ Government minister

The All-Time Best Sellers

It is good to know that the Top Trumps range remains as popular as ever in higher education. Some titles though are very much top of the game-playing pops. Here is the list of the all-time University Top-Trumps best sellers:

University Top Trumps continue to be the ideal gift for the higher education wonk in your family or workplace. Place your orders online now or visit your local university bookshop – if it still exists – and pick up a set today.