Lancaster University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lancaster University

Coat of arms of Lancaster University
Motto	Latin: Patet omnibus veritas
Motto in English	Truth lies open to all
Type	Public
Established	1964; 61 years ago (1964)
Endowment	£18.4 million (2023)
Budget	£381.0 million (2022/23)
Chancellor	Alan Milburn
Vice-Chancellor	Andy Schofield
Pro-Chancellor	Alistair Burt
Academic staff	1,958 (2021/22) (full-time equivalent)
Total staff	3,323 (2021/22) (full-time equivalent)
Students	17,770 (2021/22)
Undergraduates	12,860 (2021/22)
Postgraduates	4,915 (2021/22)
Location	Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , England 54°00′37″N 2°47′08″W / 54.01028°N 2.78556°W / 54.01028; -2.78556
Campus	Bailrigg
Colours	'Quaker Grey' and red Colleges    Bowland    Cartmel    County    Furness    Fylde    Graduate    Grizedale    Lonsdale    Pendle
Affiliations	AACSB ACU AMBA EUA EQUIS N8 Group Universities UK

Lancaster University is a well-known public research university located in Lancaster, England. It was started in 1964 by a special document called a royal charter. This made it one of several new universities created in the 1960s.

The university first began in the city centre. Then, in 1967, it moved to a new campus built just for it. This campus is on 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land at Bailrigg, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the city. The buildings on campus are set up around a main path called the Spine. This path leads to a central area called Alexandra Square, named after its first leader, Princess Alexandra.

Lancaster is a university where students live in special groups called colleges. These colleges have their own places to live, common rooms, and staff. There are eight colleges for undergraduate students. They are named after places in the historic county of Lancashire.

Lancaster University has been ranked among the top universities in the UK for many years. It also received a Gold rating for its teaching quality in 2017 and 2023. The university is part of the N8 Group, which includes other top research universities in the North of England.

University History

Founding chancellor Princess Alexandra, who served from 1964 to 2004.

Between 1958 and 1961, plans were made for seven new universities in the UK. Lancaster was chosen as the location for one of these new universities on 23 November 1961.

The university officially started with a royal charter in 1964. This charter stated that Princess Alexandra of Kent would be its first leader, known as the Chancellor. She officially took on this role in 1964. Important people, including the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, also received special degrees at this ceremony.

Princess Alexandra retired as Chancellor in 2004. She was the longest-serving university Chancellor in the UK at that time. To honor her, the Chancellor's Medal is now given to top students each year.

The first students joined the university in October 1964. There were initially 13 professors and 32 other teaching staff. The university's motto, "patet omnibus veritas", means "Truth lies open to all." Science students were first admitted in 1965.

The university was temporarily based in the city of Lancaster at first. Students lived in the nearby town of Morecambe. The university moved to its new campus at Bailrigg between 1966 and 1970.

In 2014, Lancaster University celebrated its 50th birthday. They held many events for students, staff, and the local community.

Exploring the Campus

Alexandra Square with Bowland Tower.

The university's campus is located at Bailrigg. It covers 360 acres (1.5 km²) and was given to the university by Lancaster City Council in 1963. The main buildings are on a hilltop. The lower parts of the campus have parks, including Lake Carter, a duck pond, and sports fields. Lake Carter was named after Charles Carter, the university's first Vice Chancellor. The campus is about 3 miles (5 km) south of the city centre. Building started in 1965, and the first student homes opened in 1968.

Bailrigg campus was designed to bring together places for living, studying, and socialising. There isn't one big student union building. Instead, each college has its own facilities for social activities.

Cars and people are kept separate on campus. Cars use a road around the edge, and there's an underpass for buses and people. This underpass was updated in 2010.

The campus buildings are built around a main covered path called "The Spine." This path runs from north to south-west. The main architect, Gabriel Epstein, designed it to protect people from the weather.

Between 2016 and 2018, the Spine was updated. The old wooden roof was replaced, narrow areas were widened, and new green spaces were added.

The Charles Carter building.

Alexandra Square is the main open area on campus. It's named after the first Chancellor, Princess Alexandra. University House, banks, and shops are on one side of the square. The tallest building on campus, the fourteen-storey Bowland Tower, is also nearby.

A unique building on campus is the Lancaster University Chaplaincy Centre. It opened in 1969 and has a special three-leaf shape with a central spire. The university's old logo was based on this spire.

There were plans for a second campus with more colleges, but these plans were stopped in the 1970s.

The University Library

The university library is in the south-west corner of campus. It was designed in 1964 and opened in phases between 1966 and 1971. The library was expanded in 1997 and updated in 2014-2016. In 2021, a new extension added more study areas and a 'living wall'.

A special feature of the library is a large tree growing in the middle of the ground floor study area.

Next to the library is The Ruskin - Library, Museum and Research Centre. It opened in 1998 and was designed by Sir Richard MacCormac.

South-West Campus Area

Student homes in the South-West Campus.

The university started building new areas on the lower parts of Bailrigg. This included new buildings for Graduate College in 1998. This area is now called South-West Campus. More buildings were added, including InfoLab21 and Alexandra Park, which has homes for Lonsdale College, Cartmel College, and Pendle College.

Cartmel College is built around Barker House Farm, a 17th-century farmhouse. This old farm building is now part of the college.

Health Innovation Centre

Health Innovation Campus at Lancaster University under construction in October 2019.

The university is building a 'Health Innovation Campus' next to the main campus. This new campus is expected to create 2,000 jobs and boost the local economy. Construction started in December 2017 and finished in summer 2020.

Campus Services

The Bailrigg campus has many shops and services for students and staff. These include a post office, a health centre, a pharmacy, hairdressers, and the Lancaster University Homes office.

Arts and Culture Venues

Outside the Jack Hylton music rooms.

At the north end of campus, the university has the Great Hall Complex. This includes three places open to everyone: the Peter Scott Gallery, the Nuffield Theatre, and the Lancaster International Concert Series. These venues offer different cultural events.

The Ruskin - Library, Museum and Research Centre.

The Peter Scott Gallery is free to visit. It holds the university's international art collection. This includes Japanese and Chinese art, old objects, and works by British artists.

The Lancaster International Concert Series provides classical music concerts in the Great Hall. These concerts happen from October to March each year.

The Nuffield Theatre is a large and flexible theatre. It shows plays, modern dance, and live art from groups around the UK and other countries. It focuses on new and experimental performances.

The Ruskin - Library, Museum and Research Centre keeps old papers and items related to the writer and artist John Ruskin. It is open to the public, but only a small part of the collection is shown at one time. The building was built in 1997 by architect Sir Richard MacCormac.

Conference Centre

In 2016, the university bought the Forrest Hills conference centre and golf course. It is located across the M6 motorway from the main campus. The university still runs it as a place for conferences.

How the University Works

University Colleges

The university has nine colleges. All students and staff belong to a college. Each college has its own student homes and social areas. Most colleges have around 800 to 900 members.

Before 1992, all eight colleges had both undergraduate and postgraduate students. But in 1992, the ninth college, Graduate College, was created just for postgraduate students. This college helps meet the special needs of students doing advanced degrees. However, students doing integrated master's degrees are still considered undergraduates and stay in their original colleges.

Seven of the eight colleges for undergraduate students are named after areas in the traditional county of Lancashire. County College is named after Lancashire County Council, which helped pay for its construction.

The college buildings mainly provide social spaces and student accommodation. Each college also has its own bar.

Academic Departments

Postgraduate Statistics Centre.

The university is divided into four main groups called faculties. Each faculty has different academic departments.

University Leadership

University House, where many university offices are located.

The university is managed by two main groups: the Council and the Senate.

The Council is in charge of the university's overall management and money. Most of its members are not staff or students.

The Senate is in charge of all academic matters. This includes what is taught and making sure standards are kept high. Its members are mainly deans of faculties and heads of departments.

Chancellor

The Chancellor is the formal leader of the university. Currently, this is Alan Milburn.

Former Chancellor Sir Chris Bonington now serves as the Chancellor's Ambassador.

Vice-Chancellor

The Vice-Chancellor is the chief academic and executive officer. This person leads the university's daily operations. Andrew John Schofield became Vice-Chancellor in May 2020.

Academic Life

Student Admissions

Lancaster is a popular choice for students. In 2014, it ranked 25th in Britain for the average grades of students who joined. Most courses need high grades, like AAA or AAB at A-level. The university offers places to over 80% of its applicants.

In the 2016–17 school year, about 66% of students were from the UK, 10% from the EU, and 23% from other countries. The number of female and male students is almost equal.

University Rankings

Lancaster University's national league table performance over the past ten years.

Lancaster University has consistently been ranked among the top universities in the UK. For the past 10 years, it has been in the top 15 in all three major UK university rankings. It is also often ranked among the top 150 universities worldwide.

In 2014, when it was 50 years old, Lancaster University was ranked 10th in the world for universities under 50 years old.

International Programs

Lancaster University works with other universities around the world. Since 2006, it has partnered with Sunway University in Malaysia to offer joint degree programs.

In October 2013, Lancaster University opened a campus in Accra, Ghana. This campus offers British university education to students in Ghana and across Africa. It provides courses in business, economics, computer science, law, and psychology.

In 2020, Lancaster opened a new campus in Leipzig, Germany, called Lancaster University Leipzig. The courses there are the same as those in Lancaster, and students get their degree from Lancaster University.

The university also has a joint institute in Guangzhou, China, with the South China Agricultural University. They offer a joint Environmental Science degree.

Research at Lancaster

Lancaster University is known for its research. In 2021-22, it received £48.1 million for research. In a 2014 assessment, Lancaster was ranked 18th out of 128 UK universities for its research quality. A lot of its research is considered "world-leading." The university focuses on research that involves different academic subjects working together.

Physics Research

Lancaster University's Physics Department does a lot of important research. In 2021, 46% of their research was rated "world-leading." They have five main research groups, including astrophysics and particle physics. The Particle Physics team works with major research centers like CERN and Fermilab.

Student Life

Students' Union

LUSU-run convenience store on campus.

The Lancaster University Students' Union (LUSU) represents all students at the university. It's unique because there isn't one main union building. Instead, the union works through the eight college JCRs, which each have their own social spaces.

LUSU publishes a student newspaper called SCAN (Student Comments And News), which started in 1967. LUSU also owns a nightclub in Lancaster called The Sugarhouse. They also run a shop on campus and a housing agency for students.

The Sugarhouse nightclub.

LUSU also supports LUSU Involve, a program that helps students volunteer in local and international communities.

There are over 175 different student societies at Lancaster University. These include groups for sports, hobbies, politics, academics, culture, and religion. During the Freshers period (when new students arrive), there are fairs where clubs and societies promote themselves.

Chancellor's Wharf

Chancellor's Wharf student accommodation, off-campus.

Chancellor's Wharf is a place where students can live off-campus. It has three buildings next to the Lancaster canal. It's close to the city centre and is open to students from all colleges.

Sports at Lancaster

Every summer, students compete in the Roses Tournament against the University of York. This is one of the biggest university sports competitions in Europe. The event takes place at either Lancaster or York each year. It's named after the historic War of the Roses.

The Lancaster University Athletics Club (LUAC) started in 2011. They have won awards and now compete in national university sports events.

The Lancaster University Swimming and Water Polo Club also competes in national events and the Roses Tournament. They have won "Club of the Year" awards.

College Sports Competitions

There are many sports competitions between the different colleges at the university. Leagues exist for football, netball, pool, darts, and dominoes. The "George Wyatt Cup" is for bar sports (pool, darts, dominoes). The Carter Shield is a fun competition between all colleges, promoting lesser-known sports.

Some colleges also have annual sports events against each other:

• Founders is a competition between Bowland and Lonsdale, the two oldest colleges.
• Patriots is a competition between Furness and Cartmel Colleges.

Arts, Media, and Culture

Besides sports, Lancaster University has many arts societies. These include groups for performance, media, and music. Examples are the Lancaster University Theatre Group (LUTG), the Comedy Institute, and the University of Lancaster Music Society (ULMS).

There are also four student media groups: the student radio station Bailrigg FM, the student newspaper SCAN, the student TV station LA1TV, and Take 2 Cinema, an on-campus cinema.

Religious Groups

The Chaplaincy Centre, with its iconic spire.

The Lancaster University Chaplaincy Centre is on campus. It includes spaces for various religious groups, like Christian (Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox, Quakers), Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu. There are also many religious societies that hold regular events. The Islamic Prayer Rooms are located near the Chaplaincy Centre.

Notable People

Many famous people have studied at Lancaster University. Here are a few examples:

Business Leaders

• Antony Burgmans (Marketing, 1971) – Former Chairman of Unilever.
• Jon Moulton (Chemistry, 1973) – Founder of Better Capital.
• Mark Price (Classics & Archaeology, 1982) – Managing Director of Waitrose.
• Bruce Sewell (Psychology, 1979) – Former Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Apple.

Media Personalities

• Richard Allinson (Economics, 1980) – Radio presenter.
• Robert Fisk (English Literature, 1968) – Middle East correspondent for The Independent.
• James May (Music, 1985) – Television presenter.
• Ranvir Singh (English and Philosophy, 1998) – Television presenter.

Actors and Artists

• Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Music, 1978) – Actor.
• Daniel Ings (Theatre Studies, 2008) – Actor, known for The Gentlemen.
• Ralph Ineson (Theatre Studies, 1991) – Actor.
• Andy Serkis (Independent Studies, 1985) – Actor, known for roles like Gollum.
• Dean Sullivan (Teaching Degree) – Actor, played Jimmy Corkhill in Brookside.

Politicians and Law Makers

• Audrey Azoulay (Business Administration, 1993) – French politician and former Minister of Culture.
• Alan Campbell (Politics, 1978) – Member of Parliament (MP).
• Rami Hamdallah (Linguistics, 1988) – Former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
• Alan Milburn (History, 1979) – Current Chancellor of Lancaster University and former MP.
• Cat Smith (Sociology and Gender Studies, 2006) – MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood.

Sports Personalities

• Jason Queally MBE (Biological Sciences, 1992) – Olympic cyclist.

Scientists and Academics

• Lucy Rogers (Engineering, 1995) – Inventor and Science Communicator.

See also

In Spanish: Universidad de Lancaster para niños

• Armorial of UK universities
• List of universities in the United Kingdom
• Plate glass university