Established in 1831 as the Yorkshire College of Science, Leeds University gained a Royal Charter from King Edward VII in 1903 and is today run by the prestigious Russell Group, who are seen as leaders in research-based university faculties. The University of Leeds is ranked as highly as 10thin the best universities in the UK, and often around fourteenth or fifteenth. It consistently sits within the top 5 universities for the most applications received, alongside Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Nottingham and Edinburgh.

Whilst by no means the only university in the city of Leeds, Leeds University is one of the biggest with over 33,000 students and over 8,000 staff. It supplies the city with over 2,000 student volunteers, is the city’s third largest employer and contributes well over £1bn annually to the local economy.

Leeds University is spread over several campuses with over 1,230 acres of land in total, throughout Leeds city centre and beyond. It comprises numerous architectural styles and a variety of aged and modern buildings including recent developments as a result of financial grants received.

Academically, there are over 560 first-degree programmes on offer at Leeds University and over 300 post-graduate courses. Amongst more traditional academic subjects, Leeds is renowned for its specialist subjects too, including notably Fire Science, Colour Chemistry, Aviation Technology and Nanotechnology. The university also plays home to a variety of research centres; partially as a result of its ownership by the Russell Group. These include units as part of the Institute of Transport Studies and St James’ University Hospital.

A number of notable and famous alumni derive from Leeds University, including Jack Straw, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Piers Sellers and Sir Ken Robinson. There’s also a vast amount of musically-inclined alumni from Leeds such as Corinna Bailey Rae, Mark Knopfler, Little Boots and the band Bastille.

Leeds University was named the 2017 University of the Year by the Sunday Times after several years resulting as a runner-up, as a result of judging by a panel of academic experts.