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Former names | University College Northampton, Nene College of Higher Education (1975), Northampton Technical College (1924) |
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| Motto | Latin:Ne Nesciamus |
Motto in English | Let us not be ignorant |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 2005 (gainedUniversity status) 1975 (Nene College established) |
| Endowment | £0.95 m (2015)[1] |
| Chancellor | Richard Coles |
| Vice-Chancellor | Anne-Marie Kilday |
Administrative staff | 1,048[2] |
| Students | 16,420 (2023/24)[3] |
| Undergraduates | 12,115 (2023/24)[3] |
| Postgraduates | 4,305 (2023/24)[3] |
| Location | ,, UK 52°15′02″N0°53′25″W / 52.2506°N 0.8903°W /52.2506; -0.8903 |
| Website | northampton |
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TheUniversity of Northampton is apublic university based inNorthampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampton in 2005.
The town had a university in medieval times between 1261 and 1265 ofthe same name, established byroyal charter after approval fromKing Henry III in 1261. It was the third university in England, afterOxford andCambridge, and the 22nd in Europe. After being advised bybishops andmagnates that Northampton was a threat to Oxford, Henry III dissolved the university in 1265, and signed aRoyal Decree that banned the establishment of a university in Northampton.
Northampton Technical College was opened at St George's Avenue—now the site of the Avenue Campus—in 1924. Eight years later, a new building for the college was formally opened by theDuke andDuchess of York. A School of Art opened later in 1937.[4]
At the beginning of the 1970s,Northamptonshire was one of the few counties in England to lack a teacher-training college. A college inLiverpool lost its home and was transferred to what is now the Park Campus. The College of Education was opened by theSecretary of State for Education and Science,Margaret Thatcher, in 1972. In 1975, this college amalgamated with the Colleges of Technology and Art to becomeNene College of Higher Education, taking its name from theRiver Nene. In 1978, it integrated the Leathersellers College from London.[citation needed]
In 1993, the college incorporated St. Andrew's School ofOccupational Therapy and was granted undergraduate degree awarding powers. In 1997, it took in the Sir Gordon Roberts College of Nursing andMidwifery.
It becameUniversity College Northampton in 1999 and gained full university status in 2005. To gain university status it had to convince thePrivy Council that aRoyal Decree banning the establishment of a university in Northampton, signed byKing Henry III in 1265 following theBattle of Lewes, should be repealed. In 2005, the university also received the power to validate its own research degrees, which had formerly been validated by theUniversity of Leicester. In the graduation ceremonies in July 2006, seven students received the firstdoctoral degrees validated by the University of Northampton.
In January 2010, the School of Applied Sciences was renamed the School of Science and Technology and moved into the newly refurbished Newton Building at Avenue Campus. The Newton Building was officially opened in September 2010 byPrincess Anne.
Until 2018 the university had three main sites: Avenue Campus, just north of the town centre, opposite a large open park known as the Racecourse; Park Campus in Kingsthorpe to the north of the town which was the main and largest campus and an Innovation centre oppositeNorthampton railway station. In May 2012, the university announced plans to establish a new riverside campus in the town centre, on the site of the disusedNorthampton Power Station on the south bank of theRiver Nene[5] and located within theNorthampton Waterside Enterprise Zone (known simply as Northampton Waterside).[6][7] The Waterside Campus opened to students in September 2018 with the facilities on both Park and Avenue campuses transferring to it.[8]
The main student halls of residence are now located in the student village of the Waterside Campus, and includeFrancis Crick;Margaret Bondfield;John Clare; andCharles Bradlaugh. A former ground-floor flat in the latter is a multi-faithChaplaincy Centre, and another in John Clare houses the Centre for Community Volunteering;Bassett-Lowke. A 464-room hall of residence 'St John's Halls of Residence' opened in 2014 and mainly accommodates international and post-graduate students.[9] In November 2023 student protests at the 'unsafe and unsanitary conditions' in these halls were reported on by the BBC.[10] In December 2023 under Prof Anne-Marie Kilday's tenure as Vice Chancellor, the university announced the closure of the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies.[11] This had been based at the university due to a long tradition of leather working as the primary industry in Northampton.[12]
The Vice-Chancellor isAnne-Marie Kilday, who was preceded in the post byNick Petford,Ann Tate (who received an honorary degree from the university in 2011) and Martin Gaskell.
On 10 February 2008, the university appointedBaroness Falkner of Margravine as its firstChancellor. In July 2017, she was succeeded by the BBC radio presenterRichard Coles.[13]
The Board of Governors are the members of the Higher Education Corporation and act both as governors and charitable trustees. There are 17 members of the Board of Governors. They are drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors as well as from the staff and students of the university.[14]
The university had 12,060 students in 2023/24.[3] It is divided into three faculties: the Faculty of Business & Law, the Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology, the Faculty of Health, Education & Society.[15]
The university offers a wide range of undergraduate degrees, foundation degrees, diplomas and a variety of postgraduate opportunities up to PhD level.
| National rankings | |
|---|---|
| Complete (2025)[16] | 120 |
| Guardian (2025)[17] | 113 |
| Times / Sunday Times (2025)[18] | 125 |
| Global rankings | |
| QS (2025)[19] | 1201–1500 |
In February 2013, the university received international recognition for its commitment to social innovation and entrepreneurship by being designated a 'Changemaker Campus' by Ashoka U.[20] Northampton was the first Changemaker Campus in the UK and joins a global network of 21 other Changemaker Campuses.
Research, consultancy and knowledge transfer at the university are centred on a number of cognate research groupings. It carries out internationally renowned research into lift engineering and technology, using theExpress Lift Tower in the town, reflecting the town's historic role in lift manufacturing.
The Students' Union operates out of the redeveloped Engine Shed location on the Waterside Campus, which also operates as a daytime cafe and food outlet. The Students' Union is led by five full-time Sabbatical Officers, backed by volunteers including an extended Elected Officer Team of Part Time Officers and is supported by almost 200 staff – both student and career staff.[21]
The Students' Union has 35 sports clubs[22] and enters 24 teams in WednesdayBUCS Leagues each week. The Students' Union operate on a policy of free sports membership, meaning all teams are free to join with no membership fee and offers a wide variety of sports including rugby league (Gremlins RL), football, netball, basketball, hockey and lacrosse. They are also one of a select SUs to offer equestrian as a sports club for their students. Sports is overseen by the Sports Coordinator with an elected Sports Part-Time Officer acting as a representative for the voice of student sports.
Since the start of the 2018–19 academic year, the Students' Union has contested a Varsity event against theUniversity of Bedfordshire, with each institute taking it in turns to host the event each year. The SU also hosts an end of year Sports Awards event to recognise the achievement of all clubs, with awards including both performance based awards as well as charity and individual awards.
Approximately 60 student societies are affiliated with The University of Northampton Students’ Union.[23] These range from special interest societies such as eSports & Gaming, Anime, or Crochet, to faith-based societies such as the Christian Union and Hindu Society.
The university is an academic sponsor of twouniversity technical colleges which opened in September 2013.Daventry University Technical College specialises in engineering, construction and environmental sustainability,Silverstone University Technical College in motorsports engineering, event management and hospitality.
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