Facts and Rankings
Founded in 1921, the University of Leicester received its Royal Charter in 1957. Leicester is a member of the 1994 Group of internationally renowned universities engaged in leading-edge research and high quality teaching.
The University of Leicester is the Times Higher Education (THE) University of the Year 2008-9. In awarding the title the judges cited Leicester’s ability to “evidence commitment to high quality, a belief in the synergy of teaching and research and a conviction that higher education is a power for good”.
The University is highly ranked, consistently in the top 20 of all national tables including:
15th by the Guardian
15th and top in the region by The Times
18th by the Sunday Times
20th by the Independent
For four consecutive years, the University of Leicester has recorded some of the highest scores for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey. In 2008 92% of full-time students taught at Leicester are satisfied with their programme. This is a level of satisfaction exceeded only by Cambridge amongst mainstream universities teaching full-time students in England.
The City
Leicester, with a population of more than 300,000, is a commercial and cosmopolitan city with a wide variety of shops, restaurants, cultural and recreational amenities. Surrounded by beautiful countryside, Leicester is situated almost exactly in the centre of England, 160km north of London (just over one hour by train) and within easy reach of many other major towns and places of interest - including Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and both Oxford and Cambridge, the sites of the ancient universities.
Top research quality
The research conducted by the University has the strongest impact of any Midlands university measured by citations per academic. Its citation levels are the 7th highest in the UK relative to size (THE/QS World University Ranking September 2008).
Leicester has one of the highest proportions of staff who are research active in the UK, with approximately 93% of staff submitted for the national 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Of these, Leicester has 87% of research activity deemed by the RAE to be producing internationally significant research.
International students
The University of Leicester has over 20,000 students. Of the 11,000 full-time students, there are more than 2,000 students from outside the United Kingdom studying the full range of subjects and degrees courses available.
High completion rate
Leicester has one of the strongest student completion rates – 91% of our students leave the sector with an award according to government performance indicators.
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