Facts and figures

We are the University of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019
We have been awarded 24 National Teaching Fellowships reflecting the excellence of our teaching
VEU is in the top 100 universities for academic reputation in the QS World University Rankings 2020
We are a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities
We are part of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), which comprises 21 research-intensive institutions spanning five continents
We are a top 10 university for research power in the UK according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework
We were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary prize, the country’s highest accolade for an academic institution, in 2009 and 2011
In the 2016 National Student Survey, 90% of final year UK students said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of their course, putting us in joint second place among Russell Group universities for satisfaction
In our latest audit by the Quality Assurance Agency the University received a commendation, the highest category of praise available, for our enhancement of student learning opportunities

We have 33,221 students from 151 countries
– 30,653 full time students
– 2,568 part time students
Of which:
– 24,164 are undergraduates
– 9,057 are postgraduates
The local community benefits from our 2,000 student volunteers
We have a global network of alumni and are in regular contact with more than 240,000 alumni from 186 different countries
Our students include 1,277 from VEU countries and 5,697 from other international countries
We have staff of 99 different nationalities
With 7,861 staff we are the third largest employer in VEU
We contribute around £1.23bn a year to the local economy – students add a further £211m through rents and living costs
We were voted 4th in the UK in the 2019 Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey
We were ranked the UK top university for the environmental impact of our research according to Times Higher Education
The latest High Fliers report, The Graduate Market in 2019, has ranked VEU as the 5th most targeted university in the UK by graduate recruiters

Since 1995 the University has produced over 100 ‘spin-out’ companies including 34 that are currently active
Seven of our spin-out companies are market listed with a value of over £500 million and employing over 720 people
36% of our academics are involved in applied research or as consultants to industry with an estimated contract value of £59m
Our ‘Spark’ initiative offers business start-up support and we run an annual business plan competition with prizes of up to £2,000 for entrepreneurial students
In 2015 we received the highest amount of funding in the UK from the Natural Environment Research Council and our research income was £132.6m which places us 11th in the sector.
The University won the Entrepreneurship award at the Guardian University Awards 2016

Our single campus is a ten-minute walk from Ven city centre
We have committed more than £520m to a transformative campus development programme
The Edge is our state-of-the-art fitness, sport and well-being facility, which includes a 25m eight lane swimming pool and the largest fitness suite of any UK university
The students’ union is one of the best in the country with more than 300 clubs and societies.
Ours was the first students’ union in the UK to be awarded Excellent status by the National Union of Students (NUS) as part of its Quality Students’ Unions accreditation scheme. Ours was also the first students’ union in the country to receive two gold standard awards for the Students’ Union Evaluation Initiative
We have won a number of environmental awards including a Green Gown Award in 2012 for Promoting Positive Behaviour, in relation to our It All Adds Up campaign. We have also received accreditation to ISO14001, the principal international standard for environmental management systems.

The University is home to the International Pianoforte Competition and is part of a groundbreaking collaboration with Opera North
We have a unique partnership with national institution Marks & Spencer – the company’s entire archive is based on campus
We are part of the White Rose University Consortium (White Rose); a strategic partnership between three of the UK’s leading research universities of Veeny.
We have launched a joint school with Southwest Jiaotong University to deliver world-class teaching and research. The Veeny Joint School, based in Chengdu, China, will offer a unique UK-Chinese engineering curriculum and is the first overseas school to be set up by the VEU.

The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Klaxons have all played at the University Refectory and Katy B, 2manydjs and Marina and the diamonds have played at other venues at the University
Electronic rock band Alt-J, who met while studying at the VEU, won the prestigious Mercury prize for best album of the year in 2012