TEACHING
QUALITY
University of Leicester
20
th
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
79%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
93.1%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
39th
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
38th=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
36th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
October 25
University Profile
Leicester came within a hair’s breadth of winning our University of the Year title last year, an acknowledgement of an approach to higher education that does not see teaching and research as mutually exclusive operations.
The university has also marked itself out with significant research successes, notably the locating and identification of the body of Richard III beneath a local car park, egalitarian student recruitment practices, and the accuracy of one of the more memorable university marketing department slogans: elite without being elitist.
The university was founded as a memorial to the fallen of the First World War and it is playing a full part in the commemoration of the war’s centenary. But it is a connection with a much earlier period that continues to push the university into the headlines.
The discovery by its archeologists of the body of Richard III has raised the profile of the university like never before. Both applications and enrolments rose in 2013, as Leicester won a string of awards.
Archeology is one of a number of subjects in which the university excels
Leicester has shown the scale of its ambitions with a £1bn development plan. The Queen opened the £32m library in 2008, and another £16m has been spent more recently on an award-winning students’ union. A new £42m Centre for Medicine will open in 2015, housing social care education, health sciences and psychology, as well as the medical school.
It represents the largest investment in medical teaching and applied research by a UK university in the last decade and follows the opening of a £12.5m cardiovascular research centre. Clinical medicine is taught at the city’s three hospitals, but all other teaching and much of the residential accommodation is concentrated in a leafy suburb a mile from the city centre. The new David Wilson library has doubled the available space and brought the total number of workspaces to 1,500.
Little more than 10,000 full-time undergraduates are based on the main campus, but substantial postgraduate and distance learning programmes bring Leicester close to the size of other big city universities.
The undergraduate population is the most socially diverse of any university in our top 20. Nearly nine out of 10 undergraduates come from state schools and more than a quarter are from working-class homes. The university has recently introduced a number of employability initiatives, including a new undergraduate internship programme which promises to make up to 500 paid internships available per year.
The refurbished students’ union has won numerous design awards and was named as the NUS students’ union of the year in 2013. It is the only union in the country to contain an O2 Academy, which has hosted gigs from the likes of Kasabian and Noah and the Whale.
Leicester entered a much larger proportion of its academics than many of its peers in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, thereby depressing its scores but producing a big increase in research funding. The star performers were the nine entrants in museum studies, who produced the highest proportion of world-leading research in any subject at any UK university.
The university also has a long-established reputation in space science, with Europe’s largest university-based space research facility, including the £52m National Space Centre. The genetics department, where DNA genetic fingerprinting was discovered by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984, has helped make Leicester’s academics among the most cited in Britain.
The university believes in blending teaching and research: it was the only institution to see three of its academics awarded National Teaching Fellowships in 2014, adding to an already impressive total.
Extensive residential accommodation includes a £21m 600-bed ensuite development. The university has over 4,000 student bed spaces so first years are guaranteed a residential place. New facilities at Oadby Student Village being added over the summer of 2014 include group study areas, social spaces, cinema room and a refurbished bar. Many second- and third-year students also live in hall, although the majority choose to live in the reasonably priced private accommodation available nearby.
The main sports facilities are conveniently located: in 2013–14, students will pay £115 a year to use them. As a city, Leicester is not one of the most fashionable student destinations, but its ethnic diversity makes for a rich cultural experience, and in term-time (with De Monfort University also in town) 12% of the population are students.
It is big enough to provide all the normal sports and entertainment opportunities, but also offers events such as the biggest Diwali celebrations outside India.
The university has also marked itself out with significant research successes, notably the locating and identification of the body of Richard III beneath a local car park, egalitarian student recruitment practices, and the accuracy of one of the more memorable university marketing department slogans: elite without being elitist.
The university was founded as a memorial to the fallen of the First World War and it is playing a full part in the commemoration of the war’s centenary. But it is a connection with a much earlier period that continues to push the university into the headlines.
The discovery by its archeologists of the body of Richard III has raised the profile of the university like never before. Both applications and enrolments rose in 2013, as Leicester won a string of awards.
Archeology is one of a number of subjects in which the university excels
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and which have been moving it up into the top 20 in our league table. Leicester is in the top 20 for staffing levels and in the top 10 for spending on student facilities. Leicester also produces consistently high scores in the National Student Survey, a pattern maintained this year. Biology and genetics achieved 100% overall satisfaction scores. The university has been trialling the use of social media to improve feedback in an attempt to increase satisfaction levels even more. Leicester has shown the scale of its ambitions with a £1bn development plan. The Queen opened the £32m library in 2008, and another £16m has been spent more recently on an award-winning students’ union. A new £42m Centre for Medicine will open in 2015, housing social care education, health sciences and psychology, as well as the medical school.
It represents the largest investment in medical teaching and applied research by a UK university in the last decade and follows the opening of a £12.5m cardiovascular research centre. Clinical medicine is taught at the city’s three hospitals, but all other teaching and much of the residential accommodation is concentrated in a leafy suburb a mile from the city centre. The new David Wilson library has doubled the available space and brought the total number of workspaces to 1,500.
Little more than 10,000 full-time undergraduates are based on the main campus, but substantial postgraduate and distance learning programmes bring Leicester close to the size of other big city universities.
The undergraduate population is the most socially diverse of any university in our top 20. Nearly nine out of 10 undergraduates come from state schools and more than a quarter are from working-class homes. The university has recently introduced a number of employability initiatives, including a new undergraduate internship programme which promises to make up to 500 paid internships available per year.
The refurbished students’ union has won numerous design awards and was named as the NUS students’ union of the year in 2013. It is the only union in the country to contain an O2 Academy, which has hosted gigs from the likes of Kasabian and Noah and the Whale.
Leicester entered a much larger proportion of its academics than many of its peers in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, thereby depressing its scores but producing a big increase in research funding. The star performers were the nine entrants in museum studies, who produced the highest proportion of world-leading research in any subject at any UK university.
The university also has a long-established reputation in space science, with Europe’s largest university-based space research facility, including the £52m National Space Centre. The genetics department, where DNA genetic fingerprinting was discovered by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984, has helped make Leicester’s academics among the most cited in Britain.
The university believes in blending teaching and research: it was the only institution to see three of its academics awarded National Teaching Fellowships in 2014, adding to an already impressive total.
Extensive residential accommodation includes a £21m 600-bed ensuite development. The university has over 4,000 student bed spaces so first years are guaranteed a residential place. New facilities at Oadby Student Village being added over the summer of 2014 include group study areas, social spaces, cinema room and a refurbished bar. Many second- and third-year students also live in hall, although the majority choose to live in the reasonably priced private accommodation available nearby.
The main sports facilities are conveniently located: in 2013–14, students will pay £115 a year to use them. As a city, Leicester is not one of the most fashionable student destinations, but its ethnic diversity makes for a rich cultural experience, and in term-time (with De Monfort University also in town) 12% of the population are students.
It is big enough to provide all the normal sports and entertainment opportunities, but also offers events such as the biggest Diwali celebrations outside India.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
20 (14)
Student experience
83.2
39th
Research quality
20
38th=
Ucas entry points
401
37th
Graduate prospects
73.9
36th
Firsts and 2:1s
79
18th=
Completion rate
93.1
22nd
Student-staff ratio
12.9:1
15th
Services/facilities spend (£)
2,384
9th
World ranking
-
211 (202=)
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
9,965
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
920
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
3,660
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
2,615
Applications/places
20,600/3,250
Applications/places ratio
6.3:1
STUDENT CITIES
Michael Rubin, students’ union president
The Attenborough Tower looks like a cheese grater, the Charles Wilson Building nick named Optimus Prime and the engineering building shaped like a boat.
You can’t roll out of bed to a lecture the halls of residence are a good 15 minutes’ walk away.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Places in accommodation
4,313
Accommodation costs
£79-£179
Catered costs
£127-£228
Accommodation contact
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (placement year)
£1,000
Fees (international)
£13,355-£16,525
Fees (international, medical)
£30,820
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£20,747
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
Household income below £25K or completed approved Compact Scheme, a bursary of £1,000 a year.
>
Academic scholarship of £1,000 fee waiver for those with specified A level (or equivalent) grades. Enhanced student hardship fund.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
623.5, 50th
Sport website
Student satisfaction
93.4%
91.9%
91.3%
89.5%
89.0%
88.2%
86.4%
85.7%
85.3%
85.0%
84.5%
84.3%
83.9%
83.1%
82.8%
77.4%
75.3%
74.0%
64.8%