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Former names | List
|
|---|---|
| Motto | Latin:Qui docet in doctrina |
Motto in English | "He that teacheth, on teaching" |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1839; 186 years ago (1839) (gaineduniversity status in 2005) |
| Endowment | £395,000(2018)[1] |
| Budget | £118.3 million[2] |
| Chancellor | Dame Jenny Harries |
| Vice-Chancellor | Eunice Simmons[3] |
Academic staff | 870[4] |
Administrative staff | 1220[4] |
| Students | 14,900 |
| Undergraduates | 10,800[5] |
| Postgraduates | 4,100[5] |
| Location | , 53°12′01″N2°53′53″W / 53.200326°N 2.898073°W /53.200326; -2.898073 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colours | Burgundy[6] |
| Affiliations | AACSB ACU Cathedrals Group Universities UK |
| Website | chester |
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TheUniversity of Chester is apublic university located inChester, England. The university originated as the first purpose-builtteacher training college in the UK. As a university, it now occupies fivecampus sites in and around Chester, one inWarrington, and a University Centre inShrewsbury. It offers a range offoundation,undergraduate andpostgraduate courses, as well as undertakingacademic research.
The university is a member ofAACSB, theAssociation of Commonwealth Universities, theCathedrals Group, theNorth West Universities Association andUniversities UK. It holds an overall Silver Award in the 2023Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).[7]
A 2021 article inTimes Higher Education described the University of Chester as being the fifth-oldest higher education establishment in England, with only the universities ofOxford,Cambridge,Durham andLondon predating it.[8]
The university was founded as Chester Diocesan Training College in 1839 by a distinguished group of local leading figures in theChurch of England, including futurePrime MinistersWilliam Ewart Gladstone and the14th Earl of Derby.[9] It was the UK's first purpose-builtteacher training college,[10] which makes it one of the longest establishedhigher education institutions in the country.[10] In 1842, Gladstone opened the college's original buildings for its first intake of ten male student teachers on the Parkgate Road site, (just outside the City Walls), that the university occupies today.[11]
In 1921, Chester formally became an affiliated college of theUniversity of Liverpool,[9] which meant that the University of Liverpool awarded Chester's qualifications and Chester's students were able to use Liverpool's facilities.
The institution was threatened with closure in the 1930s, but its future was secured by theBishop of Chester in 1933.[12] From then on, the college continued to grow steadily. By the 1960s, as the UK was massively expanding its higher education capacity in reaction to theRobbins Report, the college was considered as a possible candidate for university status. These proposals, however, were not followed through.
The college continued to expand and women were first admitted in 1961. In 1963, the government renamed teacher training colleges to colleges of education, so Chester's name became Chester College of Education. In 1974, the number of courses was expanded beyond teacher education to includeBachelor of Arts andBachelor of Science degrees. To reflect its wider remit, the college was renamed Chester College of Higher Education.
In the early 1990s the School of Nursing and Midwifery (now the Faculty of Health and Social Care) was established.[9] The college also began to offer aBachelor of Theology degree,HNDs and morepostgraduate courses, such asmaster's degrees andPhDs.[9] It also embarked on a £10 million campus improvement programme. By 1996, Chester had earned the right to call itself University College Chester.[13][14] This name, however, was short-lived as the government changed the requirements foruniversity colleges in 1999 to include only those that had their own degree-awarding powers. Thus, Chester had to drop the 'University College' tag and reverted to the title Chester College of Higher Education, though the more descriptive Chester, a College of the University of Liverpool was frequently used in publicity material.[10]
The college expanded in 2002 through the acquisition of the higher education faculty and campus of Warrington Collegiate Institute.[9] (The further and adult education campuses of Warrington remained independent and was known as Warrington Collegiate, until in August 2017, when it merged with Mid Cheshire College.))
In 2003 Chester was granted its own degree-awarding powers, allowing it to be known as University College Chester once again.[10] Due to its long (and well-advertised) association with the University of Liverpool, Chester continued to award Liverpool degrees until the 2005 intake of students.[15]
In 2005, University College Chester was awarded full university status and became the University of Chester.[16] This was followed by the right to award its own research degrees in 2007, ending Chester's last validation arrangement with Liverpool.
Following the 2008Research Assessment Exercise, some of the university's research was declared to be of international quality, with a proportion of 'World Leading' research in History (15% of submitted research), English, Sports Studies, and Drama (each 5% of submitted research).[17][18][19]
In 2010, the Centre for Work Related Studies (CWRS) received a commendation by the UK quality body, for its radically flexible and high quality negotiated work based learning framework - enabling professionals to customise their own qualifications, 'learn through work', and enable rapid accreditation of commercial training provision. At the same time, the funding body showcased CWRS's flexible approach to accrediting workplace learning.[20][21]
The university has expanded in recent years, buying buildings in Chester and constructing student accommodation at Parkgate Road Campus in 2013.[22]
In 2013 the university took over the Shell Technology Centre atThornton-le-Moors fromShell UK, former owners of the adjacentStanlow Oil Refinery. The Thornton Science Park, as it was renamed, was opened in 2014 byGeorge Osborne, then theChancellor of the Exchequer.[23] The Science Park was used for a variety of science and engineering-based courses. However, following guidance from theHealth and Safety Executive, in 2018 the local authorityCheshire West and Chester Council refused a retrospective planning application for continued use for educational purposes on safety grounds, due to the proximity to the refinery.[24]
In 2014,Loyd Grossman, who holds an honorary degree from the university, officially opened the North West Food Research Development (NoWFOOD) Centre.
The University of Chester has six campuses and a University Centre in Shrewsbury. The 32-acre (130,000 m2) Parkgate Road Campus, Chester,[16] is located on Parkgate Road, just north of the City Walls. It has a mixture ofVictorian buildings (such as Old College, which includes a chapel built by some of the original students in the 1840s) and modern buildings (such as theStudents' Union). The Parkgate Road Campus also features a fitness centre, sports hall, swimming pool, science and language laboratories and bar.
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Some departments are housed offsite at locations within walking distance of the main campus, for example, the Department of English is located in aGrade II-listed former Victorian vicarage, while the Law School is based at 67 Liverpool Road. The formerCounty Hall, which is located in the city centre near the racecourse, houses the Faculty of Education and Children's Services and the Faculty of Health and Social Care and is known as theRiverside Campus.The university has also developed the Kingsway Campus in Newton with the addition of a three-storey teaching block, ground floor exhibition space and art gallery, learning resource centre and changing rooms. The site features a number of green innovations, such asground source heating.
The university acquired a formerLloyds Bank corporate headquarters in Queen's Park,Handbridge, Chester in 2015. This houses the Faculty of Business and Management and the Chester Business School. The university has modernised the facilities in Bridge House and Churchill House to cater for 2,700 students.
In the autumn of 2015, the university opened a sister institution in the Guildhall and Rowley's House,Shrewsbury, Shropshire as part of a joint venture with Shropshire Council to establish University Centre Shrewsbury.
The university-owned student accommodation is primarily reserved for first year and overseas students. This consists of halls of residence and houses nearby.
The smaller Warrington campus originally hosted a camp for Canadian officers inWorld War II and is located in thePadgate area ofWarrington. This campus includes the North West Media Centre, which has close ties toGranada Television, The Warrington School of Management, Social Sciences and Health and Social Care.[25] The Warrington Campus is also the training ground for the rugby league teamThe Warrington Wolves, and Warrington town was the host for theRugby League World Cup 2013, with the Campus hosting the Samoan players. In 2022 two new buildings, Time Square and Remond House, were opened in Warrington Town Centre.[26]
The university also has a number of bases at NHS sites acrossCheshire andthe Wirral, and opened University Centre Birkenhead in September 2018.[27]
The university is organised into seven faculties of study. Several of these are subdivided into academic departments.[28] The faculties and departments are:
In addition, a number of research centres operate alongside the departments.
From 2015 to 2020 the University of Chester provides validation for PhD programmes offered byGlyndŵr University.[citation needed]
The university's coat of arms was granted by theCollege of Arms in 1954. The arms, pictured above, are made up of anargent shield featuring theSt George's cross on which there is a golden wheatsheaf, representing the Earldom ofCheshire. In the first quarter of the shield is a clasped open book, symbolising learning. Thecrest features amitre, signifying the institution's founding by the Church of England, in front of two crossed swords, which are taken from the County of Cheshire's coat of arms. The golden scroll contains theLatinmotto, "qui docet in doctrina", an extract fromSaint Paul'sepistle to the Romans and translates as "he that teacheth, on teaching" or "let the teacher teach".[29]
The coat of arms was used as the college's logo until the early 1990s when a new logo, with a depiction of the Old College building, was introduced. The coat of arms returned to the college's logo in 2002 when a simplified version became part of the logo. The university's current logo, introduced in 2005, features the shield and scroll from the coat of arms.
From 2015, as part of the 175th-anniversary celebrations, the university's coat of arms was changed to include supporting griffins on either side – one in gold, and one in black reach referencing one of the institution's founders. The gold griffin of Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby bears the University Mace. The Black griffin of William Gladstone bears a sword. Each gorged with a collar of university colours red and white.
There are approximately 1,737 administrative and academic members of staff. Many take part in research and often publish their work through the institution's own publishing house, the University of Chester Press. The 2014Research Assessment Exercise resulted in Chester's research being declared world-leading in 14 areas of that submitted.[citation needed]
Former Archbishop of CanterburyRowan Williams was, in 2011, bestowed a visiting professorship with the title Gladstone Professor of Literature and Theology. His inaugural lecture 'The Messiah and the novelist: approaches to Jesus in fiction' took place inChester Cathedral.
Peter Blair and Ashley Chantler edit "Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine", a major literary periodical, which publishes stories and reviews of up to 360 words by writers from around the world.[30]
At the beginning of April 2021, the university announced its intention to make up to 86 compulsory redundancies across staff in the Humanities department.[31] TheUniversity and College Union has strongly condemned these plans,[32] and student protests in opposition to the measures have taken place throughout the city.[33][34][35]
| National rankings | |
|---|---|
| Complete (2026)[36] | 74 |
| Guardian (2026)[37] | 70 |
| Times / Sunday Times (2026)[38] | 109 |
| Global rankings | |
| THE (2026)[39] | 1501+ |
TheQuality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) 2010 audit praised the university for its good practice in ensuring standards and enhancing the quality of learning opportunities, the supportive relationships that underpin the learning and working in the institution and the strength of its partnership work.[40]
The Faculty of Education and Children's Services also celebrated an 'outstanding' outcome in its recentOfsted inspection of Initial Teacher Training.[41]
Chester Students' Union (CSU) offers services and provides facilities for students and is a member of theNUS. Threesabbatical officers are elected each year and serve a maximum of two years.
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The executive committee are the trustees of the Union. Members are elected each year before the end of March, with a president and vice-president, and each with a different role, such as Education representative, Activities representative and a Warrington representative. The support staff for the Union consists of a number of full-time employees, part-time student staff and volunteers from the elected Executive Committee and the Union Council.
The Union runs a bar 'CH1' on the main Parkgate Road Campus, Chester. The previously known 'Padgate Union Bar' on the Warrington campus was, in August 2010, taken over by the university, and is now known as 'Bar and Club 2010'. The Union also has three shops. Two are on the Parkgate Road Campus, Chester, consisting of a general shop and aStarbucks Coffee franchise, and one at Warrington.
The Union also runs over 110 sports clubs and societies; with each campus having its own teams, many of which compete inBritish Universities and Colleges Sport competitions. Once a year, the Union runs an inter-campus competition known asVarsity on campus where sporting societies, such as seven-a-side football, and non-sporting societies, such as poker, compete. Non-sporting societies include the Debating Society (which has hosted hustings events which have featured on 'BBC North West Tonight'), the Politics Forum, the Drama Society, theAmnesty International Society, the International Development Society and thePeople and Planet Society. Astudent radio station,The Cat Radio, is based on the Warrington campus and broadcasts daily, with presenters on air from September until July.
Most of Chester's 14,900 students are from the United Kingdom.[5] A quarter of students aremature and there are twice as many female students as male (partially due to the number of nursing, midwifery and teaching students). The increasing number of foreign students are mainly participants in the university's active exchange policy.
Until university status was awarded in 2005, the Vice-Chancellor was known as the principal.
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