Ulster University Crowned University of the Year 2024 

Ulster University has been awarded ‘University of the Year 2024’, the most prestigious title of all by Times Higher Education. For the first time in the University’s history, Ulster University is recognised as the top higher education institution in the UK and Ireland.

Known as the Oscars of the UK university sector, the Times Higher Education annual awards celebrate the best of higher education in the UK and Ireland. The University of the Year accolade honours exceptional university performance, with this year’s award reflecting achievements during the 2022-23 academic year.

In September, Ulster University was shortlisted alongside five other top-ranking institutions: London Metropolitan University, University of Stirling, University of Leicester, University of Sunderland, and University of Surrey. The awards attract hundreds of entries each year from universities across all corners of the UK and Ireland, that exemplify the talent, innovation, and commitment of individuals and teams across all aspects of university life.

What the judges said

Ulster University was hailed as a “force for good in fostering peace, prosperity and cohesion” and took the top spot in recognition of its role as an anchor institution in a region that has undergone rapid change in the quarter-century since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

The award honoured the completion of Ulster’s £364 million Belfast campus, creating a vital connection to a historically underserved community, backed up with a schools programme designed to boost higher education participation among the city’s young males.

The judges were also impressed by the securing of a €44.5 million (£37 million) investment from the Irish government for the development of Ulster’s Derry/Londonderry campus, making it a groundbreaking cross-jurisdictional project.

The significance of such efforts to ongoing peace and collaboration were underscored by Ulster’s role as host to the US president, Joe Biden, on his visit to mark the Good Friday Agreement’s 25th anniversary.

The judges said these achievements “demonstrated the university’s growing influence and status in the island of Ireland, and as a force for good in fostering peace, prosperity and cohesion”.

2023: A momentous year for Ulster University

The top accolade recognises Ulster University for its ‘People, Place and Partnership’ strategy, which recommitted to maintaining a dual focus on research and teaching while driving social mobility and economic growth. The university’s commitment to putting the student experience at the heart, led to achieving its highest rank in the history of UK domestic tables.

In what was a momentous year, the university secured a multi-million-pound Shared Island investment in a new teaching and student services building in Derry~Londonderry, which is set to expand an already thriving hub for health sciences, interdisciplinary training and practice in the North West.  The campus is preparing to graduate the first cohort of doctors from the Graduate Entry School of Medicine next year and offers the first Paramedic Science course in Northern Ireland meaning that Ulster University’s Derry~Londonderry campus provides the most comprehensive higher education healthcare offering in the UK and Ireland.

Additionally, the University marked the completion of its new state-of-the-art Belfast city centre campus, one of the largest higher education capital projects in Europe, recently named Building of the Year by the Royal Society of Ulster Architects. A beacon of aspiration and an engine of innovation, the campus is transforming learning and teaching experiences while making a significant economic impact in the immediate area, across the city, and the wider region.

With a unique multi-campus model, Ulster University is also delivering on its ambition for an innovative drug discovery centre in Coleraine to complement the existing Biomedical Science and Pharmacology offering. An expansive, semi-rural facility based on the north coast, the Coleraine campus is home to new programmes such as Adventure Sports and Golf Management alongside Arts, Humanities and Education.