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University of Leeds
Chris Pine
Close second: Singer Corinne Bailey Rae
Star Trek actor completed a year-long exchange student programme to the UK which saw him study at the University of Leeds during his stay.
University of Liverpool
Nick Grimshaw
Close second: Newsreader Jon Snow
Television and radio presenter Nick Grimshaw has been hosting The Radio 1 Breakfast Show since 2012. He has also been a judge on The X Factor. Before he shot to fame he studied communication and media studies at Liverpool and was a member of the uni’s radio station society.
University of Manchester
Benedict Cumberbatch
Close second: Comedian Jack Whitehall
Most famous for his role in British period drama Sherlock, actor Benedict Cumberbatch has also appeared in Doctor Strange, The Imitation Game and 12 Years A Slave. He’s also got the best name for his fan base — the Cumberbitches.
University of Nottingham
Tim Martin
Close second: Actor Ruth Wilson
If you see Tim Martin in the street, buy him a beer (or maybe not). The entrepreneur founded the Wetherspoons behemoth and gave us all an excuse for a cheap curry on a Thursday. He may have wound up a fair few students with his pro-Brexit stance, but he’s given a lot of happiness to them over the years.
University of Oxford
Stephen Hawking
Close second: Too many to mention but economist Adam Smith, poet T.S. Eliot and Oscar Wilde are up there
If you don’t know who this fella is you must life under a rock. Since his graduation from Oxford Professor Stephen Hawking has had many notable academic achievements including becoming the first to set out a theory of cosmology that explained the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
University of Plymouth
Michael Underwood
Close second: Broadcaster Monty Halls
You may remember this children’s television presenter from the nostalgic noughties show Jungle Run. He also presented on CITV, CBBC and still does the odd television debut from time to time.
University of Portsmouth
Tim Peake
Close second: TV presenter Ben Fogle
Yes, that’s right Pompey students an actual astronaut went to your uni. Major Tom Peake, who is a British Army Air Corps officer and European Space Agency astronaut, studied flight dynamics and evaluation at Portsmouth.
University of Salford
Peter Kay
Close second: Actor Christopher Eccleston
The comedian behind Phoenix Nights, Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere and most recently Peter Kay’s Car Share is responsible for tickling the funny bones of people across the UK. But before he was successfully cracking jokes, he studied media performance at Salford.
University of Sheffield
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Close second: Comedian Eddie Izzard
Olympic Champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill studied psychology at Sheffield and graduated in 2007 with a 2:2. After leaving university, she went on to become a world champion in the heptathlon.
