The University of Central Lancashire is the international, multi-campus university tracing its roots back to 1828 and leading the way in modern learning today.

Leading the way in modern learning
Today we’re one of the UK’s largest universities with a staff and student community approaching 38,000. Our employment-focused course portfolio with over 350 undergraduate programmes, nearly 200+ postgraduate courses and rich array of CPD courses means we offer you the skills and experience that industry needs.

​Building on last year's impressive rise of 27 places, we’ve climbed a further 5 places in the Complete University Guide 2021 and are now ranked 70th out of 130 institutions. And we’ve been ranked first for the money invested into student wellbeing services according to the 2020 Student Welfare League Table.

We have been awarded Silver in the UK Government’s 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Our TEF Silver rating is based on high quality teaching, excellent teaching facilities and the good careers that our graduates go on to discover.

Our graduates
We’ve always believed in helping people to seize every opportunity to flourish in education, at work and for life. Through the combination of academic excellence and real-world teaching, we inspire people to transform their lives by seizing opportunities and achieving things they never thought possible.

Our graduates achieve outstanding results and are highly employable. Over 69% of our students graduate with a First or 2:1 while 95.5% of our graduates enter employment or further study within 6 months of graduating (​Higher Education Statistics Agency 2018). Discover what our talented graduates are doing now.

A global University
Our community is made up of students from more than 100 countries around the world. And we are partnered with 125 institutions across the globe making us a truly international University.

We are ranked in the top 6.8% Centre for World University Rankings 2021-22.

Multi-campus University
We started life in Preston and have since grown the number of our UK campuses. As well as Preston, we are also based in Burnley (East Lancashire) and Westlakes (West Cumbria). We were honoured to establish the first British University in Cyprus in 2012 having been granted an academic license by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.

We are embarking on an ambitious Campus Masterplan vision is to create an attractive and inviting, world-class campus compatible with our status as one of the UK’s largest universities. A core principle of our plan is to integrate our campus seamlessly with the rest of the City, benefitting current and future generations of students, staff, visitors and the wider community.

Our research
On the world stage, our research teams work collaboratively with major international organisations, from the United Nations and the World Health Organisation to the European Space Agency and NASA. Whether it’s helping to produce the world’s first photograph of a Black Hole, advising the Government on the potential fire risks to those living in high rise tower block, or supporting the wellbeing of those living with dementia, our researchers are delivering accessible and impactful research that is relevant to society.

Connecting with business
We are a national leader in the number of student and graduate start-up businesses we support. We’ve been ranked in the top five of UK universities for the number of graduate start-up businesses created, that’s 201 start-up businesses!

Our University is Lancashire’s largest provider of graduate level qualifications and we have established links with global businesses, police constabularies, NHS trusts and more than 1,000 regional enterprises across a variety of sectors.