Queen Mary University of London

Key facts

• Our history dates back to 1785, with the founding of The London Hospital Medical College, England’s first official medical school.
• We are a Russell Group university, operating across five campuses in London and at sites across Europe and Asia.
• We are ranked 13th in the UK and 110th in the world by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.
• Our annual income is £512m, of which £112m is research income.

Our community

• We have over 28,000 students and more than 4,400 members of staff.¹
• Our students are drawn from over 160 nationalities: approximately 11 per cent are from the EU and 37 per cent are from non-EU overseas countries.
• Around 4,000 of our students are based offshore, predominantly in China.
• Queen Mary has been recognised as the most inclusive Russell Group university in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021. The authors noted: “Queen Mary continues to prove that social inclusion and academic success are not mutually exclusive.” Of our London undergraduate students, more than 90 per cent are from state schools; 75 per cent are BAME, and 51 per cent are first into higher education.

Research and innovation profile

• Queen Mary is a leading research-intensive university and was ranked fifth in the UK for the quality of research outputs (i.e. at 3* and 4* level) in the REF2014 exercise.
• Citation evidence shows that our research is world-leading in a number of areas and we are ranked eighth in the UK and 42nd globally based on citation levels (THE World Rankings).
• We have a strong track-record on research spin-outs and student start-ups (e.g. Apatech spin-out, which was sold for $330m).
• Our Innovation Centre in Whitechapel supports drug discovery start-ups and has supported almost 440 FTE jobs.
• We have partnerships with major industrial firms such as Pfizer, IBM, and Huawei.

World-leading research

• Queen Mary is ranked fifth in the UK for quality of research outputs (REF 2014).
• We have nine Nobel Prize winners among our former staff and students.
• We have a strong track record on research spin-outs and student start-ups – one Queen Mary spin-out, ApaTech, sold for $330m in 2010.
• Our BioEnterprises Innovation Centre in Whitechapel supports drug discovery start-ups and has created over 500 science jobs.
• Professor Julian Jackson, Head of the School of History, won the prestigious The American Library in Paris Book Award for the biography A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle.
• Queen Mary astronomers led the international team of scientists who discovered a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System.
• In 2018, Queen Mary researchers were involved in successfully sequencing 100,000 whole genomes from NHS patients.
• Queen Mary’s research helps to change the world. Read more about its breadth and impact.

World-leading teaching

• We offer over 240 degree programmes across three faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, and Medicine and Dentistry.
• We were the first Russell Group institution to offer degree apprenticeship programmes. Our degree apprenticeship in social change, launched in 2019, is widely considered to be a world first.
• We are home to the Blizard Institute, including the Centre of the Cell – the world’s first science education centre within working biomedical research laboratories – and the recently opened Neuron Pod, both of which are central to our public engagement work.
• Our free, on-campus Student Health Service offers a full range of medical services, including immunisation and psychological counselling.
• The Disability and Dyslexia Service offers support to all Queen Mary students with disabilities, specific learning differences and mental health conditions. Students can register with the service and seek advice as soon as they have applied, and throughout their time at Queen Mary.
• Our Advice and Counselling Service offers comprehensive support to students experiencing financial, welfare and legal issues, including immigration advice for international students.
• The Students’ Union’s Academic Advice Service offers advice and representation on a number of academic welfare issues, including applications for extenuating circumstances and appeals.

A truly global university

• Queen Mary’s presence in Paris, Malta, Athens and Singapore, and its ground-breaking transnational education programme in China, mean that our staff and students collaborate across the world.
• Our Global Policy Institute connects Queen Mary researchers with overseas policymakers, industry and academics to ensure our research influences policy solutions worldwide.
• We are ranked in the top 20 institutions in the world for international outlook – based on the proportion of international staff and students, citations and internationally co-authored papers (THE 2020).

Our work in the community

• We were the first UK university to receive the Gold Watermark from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement.
• Our Students’ Union has led campaigns around local issues including housing, antisocial behaviour and road safety.
• Our award-winning Legal Advice Centre, established in 2006, is staffed by volunteer law students who provide free, accessible advice to the public on a range of legal issues.
• We sponsor two local Multi Academy Trust schools, which have both seen rapid improvement in pupil outcomes.

Skills, aspirations and social capital

• Through the University’s recruitment agency, QTemps, students can find placements on or local to campus during or after their degree.
• In 2019, our pioneering BSc in Business Management (Social Change) Degree Apprenticeship, which pairs students with leading charities, received more than 500 applications for 13 places.
• Our research helped to underpin the national movement for the Real Living Wage campaign. We were the first university in the country to be Living Wage accredited.
• We provide dedicated support for refugees, those who have been in local authority care and those who are estranged from their family or carer.

Making headlines

• Queen Mary’s Politics department has made a strong contribution to national conversations around Brexit and party politics; Professors Tim Bale and Philip Cowley regularly write for the Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times, among others.
• Geraldine Van Bueren, Professor of International Human Rights Law at Queen Mary, is a frequent commentator on human rights and social justice issues and was one of the original drafters of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2019, she was interviewed by Angelina Jolie in Time to mark 30 years since the Convention’s adoption.
• Cancer research teams at Queen Mary made headlines in 2019 by developing a urine test that could detect early-stage pancreatic cancer, as well as a simple blood test for aggressive prostate cancer.
• Dr Magda Osman, Reader in Experimental Psychology in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, regularly comments on nudge theory and other aspects of her research; she has been interviewed by outlets including the Times, New York Post and the BBC.
• Campaigns by Queen Mary-based groups Action on Sugar and Action on Salt have achieved widespread media coverage. Among other measures, they have called for a ban on cartoons aimed at children on the packaging of unhealthy foods.

¹ This figure is based on the number of staff who hold a current permanent contract with Queen Mary University of London. Please note, it does not include staff on temporary contracts or student ambassadors. This figure is subject to change and will be updated periodically.