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| Motto | Latin:Lampada Ferens | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Motto in English | Bearing the Torch [of learning] | |||||||||||||||
| Type | Public | |||||||||||||||
| Established | 1927 – University College Hull 1954 –university status | |||||||||||||||
| Endowment | £14.9 million (2023)[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Budget | £206.8 million (2022/23)[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Alan Johnson | |||||||||||||||
| Vice-Chancellor | David Petley[2] | |||||||||||||||
| Visitor | The Lord President of the Councilex officio | |||||||||||||||
Academic staff | 1,005 (2020)[3] | |||||||||||||||
Total staff | 2,190 (2020)[3] | |||||||||||||||
| Students | 15,575 (2023/24)[4] | |||||||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 9,905 (2023/24)[4] | |||||||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 5,670 (2023/24)[4] | |||||||||||||||
| Location | Kingston upon Hull ,53°46′13″N0°22′02″W / 53.770263°N 0.367141°W /53.770263; -0.367141 (Hull campus of University of Hull) England | |||||||||||||||
| Campus | Urban area | |||||||||||||||
| Colours | Scarf colours, blue and gold | |||||||||||||||
| Affiliations | Global U8 (GU8) Utrecht Network Universities UK EUA | |||||||||||||||
| Website | hull.ac.uk | |||||||||||||||
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TheUniversity of Hull is apublic research university inKingston upon Hull, a city in theEast Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 asUniversity College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to theHull York Medical School, a joint initiative with theUniversity of York. Students are served byHull University Union.
The first chancellor of the university wasLord Middleton (1954–1969), followed byLord Cohen (1970–1977),Lord Wilberforce (1978–1994),Lord Armstrong (1994–2006) andVirginia Bottomley (Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone) (2006–2023).Alan Johnson was installed as the current chancellor in July 2023.
The foundation stone ofUniversity College Hull, then an external college of theUniversity of London, was laid in 1927 by Prince Albert, theDuke of York (who later became king asGeorge VI).[6] The college was built on land donated byHull City Council and by two local benefactors,Thomas Ferens and G F Grant. A year later the first 14 departments, in pure sciences and the arts, opened with 39 students. The college at that time consisted of one building, now named the Venn building (after the mathematicianJohn Venn, who was born in Hull). The building now houses the administrative centre of the university.
Other early buildings include the Cohen Building, which originally housed the college library, and Staff House, now named Canham Turner building, built in 1948 as the Students' Union. Another early structure was the Chemistry Building, built in 1953. With the rapid expansion of student numbers which took place in the 1950s many academic departments were housed in temporary buildings, colloquially known as 'huts', which gave the campus the feel of an 'academic army camp'.[7][8] The Dennison Centre on Cottingham Road was formerly the Brooklands Officers Hospital opened by the Red Cross in 1917.[9] The authorJ. R. R. Tolkien was a convalescent patient at Brooklands and his connection is marked by a blue plaque.[10]
Though many of the older buildings on Hull's campus are ofred brick it is not aredbrick university in the strictest sense of the term, as it was not founded as part of the civic university movement of the lateVictorian andEdwardian eras.[11] Hull, with its origins in the 1920s, has been categorised as a 'younger civic university' (also referred to as a "Whitetile university") and it is placed between the 'redbricks' and the 'plateglass universities' founded in the 1960s.[12]
The first principal of the college wasArthur E. Morgan (1926–1935), the second wasJohn H Nicholson (1935–1954), who also served as the university's first vice-chancellor when the college was granted university status (1954–1956).[13]
The university coat of arms was designed by Sir Algernon Tudor-Craig in 1928. The symbols are the torch for learning, the rose for Yorkshire, the ducal coronet from the arms of the City of Hull, the fleur-de-lys for Lincolnshire and the dove, symbolising peace, from the arms of Thomas Ferens. These symbols were later reused to create the current university logo. The motto,Lampada Ferens (Bearing the Torch), incorporates the name of the university's founding father within a Latin pun.[14][15]
The college gained itsroyal charter on 6 September 1954. This empowered it to award degrees of its own, making it the 3rd university in Yorkshire and the 14th in England. The twenty six years between the formation of the university college and the awarding of the charter were the shortest such period in the history of university formation in England up to that time.[16] Within a year of the charter being granted applications to study at the new university had doubled, and in 1956 student numbers topped 1,000 for the first time.
The academic authority and autonomy of the university is symbolically embodied in the ceremonial mace. Made of gilt silver, and incorporating devices from the Hull University coat of arms, the mace was presented to the university in December 1956 by the Lord Mayor of Hull. As a gift from the city it also reflects the close relationship between "town and gown" existing in Hull. The mace is carried in procession and displayed at all major university ceremonies.[14]
The period of rapid expansion of Hull University coincided with the vice-chancellorship of SirBrynmor Jones (1956–1972), during whose time in office student numbers quadrupled.
TheBrynmor Jones Library, which houses more than a million volumes, was constructed in two phases: the first phase was fully completed in 1959, with a tower block extension officially opened in 1970. Previously, the library had existed across two rooms in the Cohen Building, run byAgnes Cuming from its opening in 1929 until 1955.[17] During the 1950s and 1960s a considerable number of academic buildings were built, including the Larkin and Wilberforce Buildings (originally given other names). The 'Martin Plan' of 1967, SirLeslie Martin was the university architect, envisaged a campus with its tallest buildings in the centre surrounded by buildings diminishing in height towards the perimeter. In the course of the 1960s most of the departments housed in temporary structures were moved into new purpose-built premises.[18] However, Biochemistry was still partially located in a 'hut' to the rear of the Venn building into the early 1980s.[7] This early phase of expansion through building ended in 1974, after this year there was to be no further academic building construction on the campus until 1996. However, student numbers doubled in this period, with the university becoming highly efficient in using its existing building stock.[19]
In 1972George Gray and Ken Harrison created room-temperature stableliquid crystals in the university chemistry laboratories, which were an immediate success in the electronics industry and consumer products. This led to Hull becoming the first university to be awarded theQueen's Award for Technological Achievement for the joint-development of the long-lasting materials that madeliquid crystal displays possible.[19][20]
In 2000 the university bought the site ofUniversity College Scarborough on Filey Road,Scarborough, plus two linked buildings on the same road. This became the University of Hull Scarborough Campus.
A further significant expansion took place in 2003, when the buildings of the formerHumberside University campus, which were situated immediately adjacent to Hull University's main campus, were purchased. The acquisition increased the size of the Cottingham Road campus by more than a third. It was the largest single act of expansion in the history of the university. Hull University fully occupied the newly acquired premises in the 2005 academic year; the area becoming the university's West Campus. The site now houses theHull York Medical School and the relocated business school, which is located in three of the most prominent buildings – Wharfe, Derwent and Esk.[19]
In 2012, the university began the ambitious refurbishment of the Brynmor Jones Library, a £28 million project to transform the seven-storey former workplace ofPhilip Larkin, into a learning hub suitable for contemporary student needs. The project was completed in 2015.[19][21]
TheHull History Centre, which opened in 2010, is located in a new building on Worship Street in Hull city centre. It unites the holdings of Hull City Library's Local Studies collections and Hull University's archives and is run in partnership between the City Library and University Library.
The university was a principal partner of the city's bid to becomeUK City of Culture in 2017. As well as being involved in the planning and preparation of the bid, the university and its staff and students have been involved in many of the events of the year. For example, during the initial three-month season,Hull Maritime Museum displayed a multimedia installation depicting aBowhead whale[22] The installation was designed by students fromHull School of Art and Design with music by students from Hull University.[23] The opening event of the whole year, from 1–7 January, included a multimedia projection calledArrivals and Departures which was greatly influenced by the work of Dr Nick Evans on migration patterns into and through Hull. The installation was projected ontoThe Deep using stop-frame animation, image and sound.[24]
In June 2024, University of Hull Vice-ChancellorProfessor David Petley announced plans to cut up to 150 jobs (14% of the workforce) in response to a reduction in international student applications.[25] The number of redundancies was later reduced to 127.[26]
In November 2024, it was announced that the university would close its chemistry department and that the number of schools would be reduced from 17 to 11.[27]
The main campus is located in a residential district of North Hull onCottingham Road. The university had a smaller campus in Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast.
Hull University is a campus university; though situated in a city, its main campus is in a suburban rather than urban district. The main campus occupies a single, clearly defined site and is self-contained in regard to catering and entertainment for students and staff. Most of the major features of the campus are described in the 'history' section above; in addition, the campus has a large Students' Union building, which is often described as one of the finest in the country, and extensive playing fields and other sports facilities. The large village ofCottingham on Hull's north-western outskirts housed for many years some of the university-owned student accommodation, although none are used for this purpose now.
In May 2024, the University of Hull, in collaboration with the Cambridge Education Group, inaugurated the London Study Centre, offering students the opportunity to pursue University of Hull programmes in the capital.[28][29] Located in Bloomsbury, central London, the Centre initially provides a selection of business-focused postgraduate programmes, including MSc Business Management MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc Digital Marketing and Advertising.[30][31]
University of Hull: Scarborough Campus was asatellite campus of the university located inScarborough, North Yorkshire, attended by approximately 2,000 students. Formerly a higher education institution offering BSc andBA degrees, the building was acquired by the University of Hull in 2000, offering Education courses, particularly at aprimary level, as well as courses inMarine Biology,Digital Media,Music TechnologyTheatre Studies,Tourism Management, and a number ofBusiness andEnglish courses.
Scarborough ran somewhat independently of the main campus inHull, with its own branch of theHull University Union. Graduation ceremonies took place within Scarborough's historicSpa Complex. The campus also contained basic amenities for study, such ascomputer labs, performance studios for students of Theatre and Dance related courses as well as dedicated music suites in the "Filey Road Studios" building opposite the campus.
In April 2014, the university released a statement that Scarborough Campus was "not sustainable in the medium to long term", and in June held a public consultation outlining the future of the campus with a new academic model in mind. In March 2015, it was revealed that theHull College Group were the university's "preferred partners for taking forward the Scarborough Campus". The college returned to its former name, "University College Scarborough" and became part of the Hull College group, but still hosts programmes from both Hull College and the University of Hull.[32]
Since September 2013, all undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses at theLeeds Conservatoire are validated by the University of Hull.[33] Beginning in 1993 Hull has validated Masters of Education programmes for theChristian Leadership in Education Office (CLEO), in Cork (and from 1993 to 1996 in Limerick), Ireland.[34] Hull also validates a number of programmes in Rotherham College, Dearne Vally College, and other RNN Group locations.[35]From 1972 until 1982 the University of Hull validated programmes at the postgraduateIrish School of Ecumenics.
Until recently, there were two faculties, the 'Faculty of Applied Science & Technology' and the 'Faculty of Science & the Environment', before becoming the 'Faculty of Science' and later being renamed to the 'Faculty of Science and Engineering'.
Notable centres for research include the Hull Immersive Visualisation Environment[36] (HIVE), the Institute for Estuarine and Coastal Studies[37] (IECS), the E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics (MCA)[38] and the G W Gray[39] Centre for Advanced Materials.
A new biomedical research facility will bring academics from biology and chemistry together and will includePositron Emission Tomography with CT scanning (PET-CT) and two minicyclotrons. Two new research groups will be based at the facility, called the Allam building: one focusing on cardiovascular and metabolic research and the other on cancer.[citation needed]
Most social science and law-related department housed in the refurbished Wilberforce Building. Includes the School of Arts and New Media at Scarborough, formed in August 2006. Drama is taught in the Gulbenkian Centre, including the Donald Roy Theatre. History, English, Languages and Music are in the Larkin Building.→
Based in the Calder, Aire and Dearne buildings in the west campus. Allam Medical Building contains mock clinical areas, wards, an operating theatre and a midwifery suite, within a simulated environment.
Teaching of medicine began in October 2003 on the west campus. Medical students receive joint degrees from the universities of Hull andYork. The school includes the 'International Society for the Study of Cough' based at Castle Hill hospital onCastle Road in Cottingham. Third and fourth year students train also at hospitals inScunthorpe,Grimsby, andScarborough.
Established in 1994, one of the PGMI's sections is the Yorkshire Cancer Research-funded Centre for Magnetic Resonance Investigations which is actively engaged in researching the application ofmagnetic resonance imaging andmagnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques to cancer research.[citation needed]
Established in August 1999, Hull University Business School has around 3,500 students from over 100 countries. Students are taught at the Hull campus, with additional MBA students taught overseas. On the Hull campus, the school occupies refurbished listed buildings on the West Campus which were opened in 2005. The Logistics Institute was completed in September 2007, and officially launched in March 2008.[40]
In 2011, following accreditation by theAMBA,EQUIS andAACSB, the business school became the first in Yorkshire, and the 13th in the UK, to achieve "triple crown accreditation" status.[41] As of 2023,[update] the school remains accredited by AMBA and AACSB.[42]
The Wilberforce Institute, patron Archbishop EmeritusDesmond Tutu, for the study of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE) is located inOriel Chambers on the High Street in Hull's Old Town, adjacent toWilberforce House. It undertakes graduate research in the field of slavery and human rights.
The university's Maritime Historical Studies Centre provides a BA in History and Maritime History, an online Diploma in Maritime History and PhD research in Maritime History. The centre is located in the Hull's Old Town inBlaydes House. Its director isDavid J Starkey.
The university is an active member of theUniversity of the Arctic.[43] UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region.[44]
The university also participates in UArctic's mobility program north2north. The aim of that program is to enable students of member institutions to study in different parts of the North.[45]
Since 2016 the university has hosted aConfucius Institute.
| National rankings | |
|---|---|
| Complete (2026)[46] | 81 |
| Guardian (2026)[47] | 99 |
| Times / Sunday Times (2026)[48] | 60 |
| Global rankings | |
| ARWU (2025)[49] | 801–900 |
| QS (2026)[50] | 526= |
| THE (2026)[51] | 501–600 |
The University of Hull is rated Gold in theTeaching Excellence Framework.[52]
Hull University Union is the main provider of student catering, services and entertainment on the university campus. It has over 100 student societies affiliated to it, and also runs a volunteering and charity hub. Approximately 50 sports clubs are affiliated to the Students Union'sAthletic Union, many of which compete inBUCS national university leagues. The University Union was voted Students' Union of the Year in July 2012.[53]
The student union building comprises an on-site nightclub as well as a number of bars and catering outlets. The building also houses a shop, advice centre, and the university-run careers service.
There is a monthly student newspaper calledThe Hullfire, an online television station called Hullfire TV and a student radio station which broadcasts from the union building called JAM Radio which relaunched in 2018.
The university has three main halls of residence on campus:
In the recent past there were halls of residence in Cottingham atThe Lawns, seven halls which could hold around 1,000 students. In March 2019 it was announced that The Lawns would close. Historically, the main concentration of 'traditional' (catered) university halls of residence was in Cottingham. These comprised: Cleminson Hall (closed in 2004),Needler Hall (closed in 2016), andThwaite Hall (closed in 2017).Ferens Hall was originally a traditional hall, but was later amalgamated with the adjoining Lawns halls. Prior to the mid-1980s, Cleminson and Thwaite halls were exclusively for female residents, Needler and Ferens exclusively for male residents. There was a former on-campus student residence, Loten Hall (now known as the Loten Building).
Student housing is based primarily in the terraced streets around the university campus itself, as well as around the Newland Avenue and Beverley Road areas of the city.
Alumni of the University of Hull are especially prominent in the fields of politics, academia, journalism and drama. They include former MP and laterDeputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott (John Prescott), former MP andDeputy Leader of the Labour Party Lord Hattersley (Roy Hattersley), former Labour Party Leader in the European ParliamentRichard Corbett, and former Labour MP and deputy leaderTom Watson, former Labour MP and authorChris Mullin, vaccinologistDame Sarah Gilbert who was Project Lead on theOxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, social scientist Lord Giddens (Anthony Giddens), poetRoger McGough, journalistJohn McCarthy, film director, playwright and screenwriter the lateAnthony Minghella.
One of the 2021 jointNobel laureates for economics was Hull graduate,Guido Imbens.
The university'sBrynmor Jones Library was the workplace of the poetPhilip Larkin who served as its Head Librarian for over thirty years. ThePhilip Larkin Society organises activities in remembrance of Larkin including theLarkin 25 festival which was organised during 2010 in partnership with the university.Andrew Motion, another prominent poet, and formerpoet laureate, also worked at the university. Prominent former academics include: marine biologist SirAlister Hardy, architect SirLeslie Martin, mathematician and historianJacob Bronowski and novelist SirMalcolm Bradbury.
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