University of the Year 2023

Delivering innovative education and research

In 2021-22, our rapid response to the Covid-19 pandemic ensured that our students could continue to study and achieve the awards they deserved. Strongly shaped by students’ views, we continue to offer innovative provision including:

• Ruskin Modules, which support students on many of our undergraduate degrees to develop the skills employers need, such as collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking
• Students at the Heart of Knowledge Exchange, where ARU students take part in workshops to tackle complex social challenges identified by local public sector partners.

In May 2022 the impact of our research was recognised in the Research Excellence Framework, with every subject area having research rated as ‘world-leading’. This best-ever outcome for ARU followed the award of The Queen’s Anniversary Prize, which acknowledged the globally important work of our Cambridge Institute of Music Therapy Research.

Serving our region and communities

In 2021-22, major developments and events took place in all three cities that we operated in:

• we successfully launched ARU Peterborough, a new university designed to meet the needs of local students, employers, and the regional economy
• in Chelmsford, we hosted the most sustainable British Science Festival ever, attracting thousands of local people to a range of events held on campus and across the city
• we opened the first Samaritans university hub in the UK on our Cambridge campus. Samaritans aims to offer more online support and our hub, which anyone can contact, is staffed by fully trained student and staff volunteers.

Through partnerships with eight police forces, we became the largest university provider of initial police education, as well as being recognised in the 2021 Graduate Outcomes Survey as the largest provider of health and social work graduates in the UK, reinforcing our commitment to offering innovative, employer-led courses that serve the region.

In the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022, we were ranked 1st in the UK and 20th globally for health and wellbeing.

Taking pride in our University community

At ARU, our mission is to serve our region and transform lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research.

Our staff and students have helped to make the projects mentioned above – and others – the successes that they are.

We’re proud of all our staff and the transformational difference they’re making to our students’ lives. And we're equally proud of our students: what they achieve when they’re with us, and the positive change they bring to their world as graduates.