Reasons to choose the University of Hertfordshire

We’re proud of being a thriving and successful higher education provider.

Here are the top reasons why we hope you’ll get involved with the University of Hertfordshire:

Business-facing ethos

We are a new type of university – innovative, enterprising and business-facing with a commitment to adding value to employers, enterprise, regional and national economies.

Courses delivered by professionals

We offer a rich range of courses – students can choose from undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses arranged under 10 schools of study. Industry professionals teach on our courses and visiting lecturers provide valuable input. This keeps our courses up to date with industry developments, making the content fresh and forward looking.

Accommodation on campus

We have a fantastic range of halls on campus – around 3,400 students live on campus in University-owned and managed accommodation so they’re always close to the social and learning facilities they need.

Alumni community

We have a worldwide family – our 165,000 alumni can remain part of University life, through our global alumni community.

BioPark facilities

We have virtual tenants – our BioPark facility is a science park managed by Exemplas on behalf of the University. It provides 5,000 square metres of laboratory and office space to life science and health technology businesses. There are currently 20 permanent and 8 virtual tenants.

Environmental focus

We care about the environment – we are ranked in the top 40 out of 120 universities in a league table of environmental performance. (People and Planet Green League 2012). Our Environmental Policy demonstrates our commitment to reducing the University’s environmental impact.

Expert advice

We know people who know things – our Xpertise List holds information on over 1,750 areas of knowledge and staff expertise across all our Schools.

High calibre graduates

We deliver the people employers want – over 90% of our students are in employment or further study shortly after graduation. Almost one third of them choose to work in Hertfordshire. Our Careers and Placements Services team advice and support students, employers, alumni and staff.

International representation

We’re a truly international community – our student body of more than 24,500 includes more than 2,000 students from overseas, representing more than 85 countries. The Times Good University Guide 2008 ranks us fourth in terms of our ethnic mix.

League table leaps

We are in the premier league – in 2009, the University made big leaps in university league tables which are geared towards helping would-be students to make the right choice of course and university. The Independent newspaper’s league table (May 2010) also showed an increase of 4 places, where the University was positioned 41 out of 113 universities.

The Independent comments "The Enterprising University of Hertfordshire continues to rise up the ranks, coming in again as the top new university in Britain... largely owing to improving its good honours degrees". 

In The Good University Guide in The Times, the University was ranked 66 out of 114 UK universities, up 13 places from the previous year. It was highlighted in The Times as one of the ‘biggest climbers’.

Learning resources

We have state-of-the-art facilities - our Learning Resources Centres (LRCs), open 24/7, provide the University with 3,000 study places, 1,300 computer workstations and WiFi for laptop users; plus 60,000 journals (most available online) and over 750,000 books (including 200,000 online ebooks).

New development

We’re big and are looking ahead – we are one of the highest investors in student facilities among UK universities. Our entertainment venue, The Forum, is one of our most exciting projects to date.

The £120m de Havilland campus is also acknowledged as one of Europe’s most significant higher education development in the last 20 years.

With over £200m spent on new developments in the last 10 years, we’ve committed a further multi-million pound figure to developments over the next 5 years.

Overseas study option

We have a global network of academic partners – more than 2,500 students take courses abroad at our partner institutions.

Revenue

We generate large revenues – our annual turnover is £235m.

Research of international quality

We research and innovate – our research institutes collaborate actively with academic, commercial and governmental organisations across the globe.

The University is listed as one of the top 500 universities in the Shanghai Jiao Tong league table 2009 – an internationally recognised league table that is accepted as the relative measure of research quality by global universities.

Safety first

We have a large, well-equipped and safe campus – we are one of the safest universities in England and Wales.

Scholarships to support talent

We award thousands of pounds to outstanding students – we have the largest number of externally funded scholarships of any university in England. Scholarships are one example of our deep links with business and industry.

Shortlisted for awards

We are recognised – in 2008, the University was shortlisted for the University of the Year Award. In 2009, the Times Higher Education magazine shortlisted us for the Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award.

Sports facilities

We have exercise facilities on campus – our £15m Hertfordshire Sports Village offers the best in sports and fitness facilities for all, including a 110-station health and fitness centre, a 25-metre 8-lane indoor pool, a sports hall with a variety of 12 courts and a 12-metre high climbing wall.

Staff

We employ over 2,300 people – many from the local area, indirectly supporting a further 4,100 jobs.

Start-up companies

We support businesses and start-up companies – our £4.5m Innovation Centre provides 1,561 square metres of office space and currently houses 22 spin-out and start-up companies. Our Business Services team also help companies get ahead of the competition.

Student placements for a great start

We support our students – during 2008, we helped facilitate more than 450 full-time student placements with industry. Careers and Placements Services is dedicated to making graduate recruitment easy for employers – as well as helping to give our students the edge in the careers marketplace.

studynet provides an online University

We have one of the UK's most sophisticated on-line learning environments – studynet is our online University, available 24/7 on the web from any location. The application offers students a range of blended learning methods in an innovative e-learning environment.

Choose a university with...

If you want to study at a university that has the best facilities to help you learn and play, you should choose the University of Hertfordshire!