Key facts about the University

How many students do we have? What is our history? How does our research stand out from the crowd? Next time you find yourself asking questions like these as you prepare content, stop by this toolkit to find the answers.

Expand to find the latest statistics under each topic. If you know of any updates not appearing below, please contact corporatecomms@herts.ac.uk

Students and staff

Total number of students	Nearly 32,000 students
Number of international students	Over 13,000 international students
Global reach	Our students come from 140 countries
Graduate employability	77.3% of our grads are in highly skilled jobs or further study within 15 months of finishing their studies (UK, full-time, UG, 2020 - this is the stat that counts towards league tables and is used across the sector)
Graduate employability	93.4% of our grads are in employment or further study within 15 months of finishing their studies (UK, full-time, UG, 2020 - includes any employment, not just highly-skilled jobs)
Creating opportunity: first in family	36% of our students reported they are first in their family to attend university
Social mobility	Herts is ranked 4th in the east of England for social mobility impact (HEPI 2023)
Staff satisfaction levels	72% of our staff are proud to work at Herts

Rankings

Guardian University Guide 2023	Herts has climbed 16 places to 74th in the 2023 Guardian University Guide and has been ranked 1st nationally for both Animation and Games Design, and Paramedic Science
Complete University Guide 2023	Herts has jumped 12 places in the 2023 Complete University Guide league table, now seated at 68th in the country. This is the third highest rise in the East of England this year

Surveys

Postgraduate research experience survey (PRES)	Overall satisfaction level of 85%, with overall performance as 10th - 6% higher than the global average taken from the universities that participated
Postgraduate taught experience survey (PTES)	We are ranked 2nd overall in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2023
Postgraduate taught experience survey (PTES)	We are ranked in the top five in every section of the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2023, including 1st for Skills Development
National Student Survey (NSS)	Herts was ranked 26th in the UK for overall student positivity* in the 2023 National Student Survey (NSS) *according to Times Higher Education’s overall positivity score (questions 1-26)
National Student Survey (NSS)	Herts was ranked 1st in the East of England for overall student positivity* according to the 2023 National Student Survey (NSS) *measured by % of positivity across questions 1-26 for all providers listed in the Complete University Guide
Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF)	We have risen 21 places in the REF rankings from 83rd to 62nd position
Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF)	Herts is in the top 25% of all universities (32nd nationally) for research impact
Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF)	At 32nd, we are the top ranked post 92 university fo research impact
Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF)	90% of our research impact was classified as outstanding (4) or very considerable (3)
Knowledge Exchange Framework 2023 (KEF)	KEF3 awarded Herts the highest ranking – ‘very high engagement’ – for our activities focused on research partnerships, working with the public and third sector, and our work driving local growth and regeneration. The University has also scored highly – ‘high engagement’ – in Intellectual Property (IP) and Commercialisation, and working with business

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Black Asian Minority Ethnic students and staff	Our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student satisfaction levels are at 82%, 3% higher than the global average (Postgraduate Research Experience Survey, 2021)
Black Asian Minority Ethnic students and staff	We have increased the percentage of Black Asian Minority Ethnic staff at salary scale UH9 and above to 17%, exceeding our key performance indicator of 16% agreed in 2019
Black Asian Minority Ethnic students and staff	We have increased the percentage of Black Asian Minority Ethnic teaching staff to 25% (2025 target is 25%)
Black Asian Minority Ethnic students and staff	Our Black Asian Minority Ethnic awarding gap is slightly above (16%) our target for 2021-22 at 16% (down from 20% in 2018-19)
Black Asian Minority Ethnic students and staff	We have increased Black Asian Minority Ethnic staff from 21.5% to 23.2% which is above the sector average of 14.3% (HESA, 2021)
Black Asian Minority Ethnic students and staff	65.9% of our students identify as Black Asian Minority Ethnic
Ethnic and gender diversity	Over 50% of our students are female and 66% are black or minority ethnic
Gender	We have increased the percentage of senior academic women (salary scale AM1 and above) to 50%, exceeding our key performance indicator of 49.2%
Gender	We hold an Institutional Bronze Athena Swan award and are working towards a Silver award in 2024. Several of our schools also hold Bronze and Silver Awards. (See the EDI web pages or annual report for details)
Race Equality Charter Mark	We’re one of 38 universities awarded the Race Equality Charter Mark
University networks	Our 96 staff and student networks and societies provide our community with a sense of inclusion
Disability	We have achieved Level 2 of the Disability Confident Scheme, April 2022
Disability	10.4% of our students and 9.5% of our staff have declared a disability

We are enterprising and innovative

University Enterprise Zone	We’re one of only 20 universities awarded Enterprise Zone status
Developing talent	More than 150 regional employers have strengthened their workforce with graduate placements, professional development, and apprenticeships.
Launching startups	We've helped launch 226 student/graduate start-ups in the past three years.
Advancing expertise	Knowledge exchange between our experts and industry has provided businesses with over £1.7million worth of expertise and support.
Local growth and regeneration	We’re ranked among the top 10% of universities for local growth and regeneration
Investment to improve student experience	We’ve invested £37 million in our campus over the past five years alone

Learning and teaching
Wide range of degree programmes We offer 550 undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across seven schools of study

Wide range of degree programmes	We offer 550 undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across seven schools of study

Powering Impact report

As an anchor institution in Hertfordshire, we play a considerable role within our local community, the region, the country and across the world as an employer, educator, business partner and driver of research for globally significant projects.

Our Powering Impact report, published in May 2023, used the most up-to-date and robust data to shine a light on the University of Hertfordshire’s powerful social and economic impact, particularly within the regional ecosystem. The Impact report evidences how we are transforming lives through career-focused education: creating inspiring learning environments, fostering an international community, boosting regional spending and jobs, filling essential skills gaps, supporting businesses to grow, and building ‘generation start-up’.

related guidance

About our brand Tone of voice Introducing our visual identity

get in touch

If you have any questions please contact a member of the team:

Contact	Email
Corporate Communications team, Marketing and Communications	corporatecomms@herts.ac.uk
Viktoria Gal, Head of Brand and Reputation	v.gal@herts.ac.uk
Marketing and Communications Business Support	marketinguh@herts.ac.uk