The University of Manchester is a centre of teaching excellence, world-class research, outstanding student experience, and social responsibility. Part of the prestigious Russell Group of universities, it’s institutions like ours that have the greatest responsibility to act as the world faces big challenges. Together, we face this head on.
Founded in 1824 for the advancement of education, we’ve since been home to 26 Nobel Prize winners and worked across disciplinary and geographic boundaries to give the world new ideas, discoveries and innovations.
Inspired by and connected with our city – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, home to an iconic arts, music and culture scene, and now the driving force of the Northern Powerhouse scheme – Manchester remains at the heart of everything we do.
We've been making an impact since day one; from creating the world’s first nuclear reaction, to building the modern computer, isolating graphene, pioneering development economics, and transforming cancer diagnosis and treatment across the world. And it doesn’t stop there – our teaching and learning approach creates life-changing student experiences, inspires lifelong learning and shapes exceptional graduate outcomes for global citizens of the future.
As we enter our third century, we’re not letting anything stand in our way as we continue to tackle the world’s biggest problems with unbreakable resolve.
We’re ranked the 6th best university in the UK and 46th overall in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (2025).
A truly international university, our community includes more than 44,000 students, 12,000 staff, and 550,000 alumni from 190 countries working together to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.
Our commitment to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is unmatched. That’s why we’re the only university in the world to rank in the top ten for social and environmental impact in every year of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
Our university is a powerhouse of research and discovery; we were ranked fifth for research power – the quality and scale of research and impact – in the UK government’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
The institution is the most popular in the UK for undergraduate applications (UCAS 2023 cycle), and it is the second most targeted university by the UK’s leading employers (The Graduate Market, 2024).
We are the largest single-site university in the UK, with the biggest student community. In total, 25 Nobel Prize winners have worked or studied here.
83% of our research was ranked as 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent' by the Research Excellence Framework in 2014.
And more than nine out of ten of our recent graduates go straight into employment or continued studies.
We are ranked 33rd in the world, eighth in Europe and sixth in the UK in the 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities. We are also ranked seventh in Europe in the 2018 Reuters Top 100 Most Innovative Universities.
What's more, we're well underway with one of the biggest investments in facilities undertaken by any UK university. This ten-year plan will transform our campus and create world-class facilities for staff, students and visitors in support of our global ambitions.
