The university has invested £150 million in its main campus, where the library won a design award in 2013. The £65 million Verena Holmes Building opened in 2021, named after a pioneering female engineer from Kent, housing courses in science, technology, health, engineering and medicine. Next to St Augustine’s Abbey, a World Heritage site a few minutes from Canterbury Cathedral, it has industry-standard facilities for research, experimentation and collaboration with businesses in the field alongside teaching and learning spaces. 

The university has set a goal of attracting 35 per cent female engineering students to turn around the traditional male domination in the subject, and 40 per cent from less-advantaged communities. CCCU has risen eight places to enter our top 50 for social inclusion (43=). It has a strong record for attracting students from underrepresented groups through a programme working with more than 50 schools and colleges in Kent and Medway to widen access to higher education.

The institution is in the top 20 for the proportion of students recruited from deprived areas (19.3 per cent) and for those who are the first in their family to go to university (56.7 per cent).Graduate prospects have improved -year-on-year to be just outside the top 50 (51st, up from 67th in 2021). Our analysis examined the numbers in highly skilled work or further study 15 months after finishing their degree.

A string of collaborative projects with other colleges and universities helped to drive up applications by a sharp 39 per cent by the end of March 2022, compared with the same point in the admissions cycle a year earlier. One such partnership is with Global Banking School (GBS), which introduced a BSc in business and tourism management in 2021, delivered at GBS campuses in Greenford, west London, Birmingham and Manchester and accredited by CCCU. 

In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), more than twice as much of CCCU’s work was assed as world-leading than reached the top category in the previous national assessment in 2014. Overall, 61 per cent of its submission achieved the top two categories. 

Although the university’s dropout rate is improving, it is among the factors holding back CCCU’s ranking in our main league table. For student satisfaction, measured by our analysis of the latest National Student Survey, the university has climbed 13 places to reach 71= in terms of teaching quality. 

It has also edged up its score for satisfaction with the overall undergraduate experience, but still lies outside the top 100 (114th).The university has promised extra support as part of its commitment to help to reverse the damage caused by the pandemic to the student experience. Induction programmes are being introduced for each year of study.

Peer mentors and wellbeing advisers are part of a wide-ranging team offering support. The Safezone app alerts university security staff if a student needs urgent assistance.

At Discovery Park in Sandwich, the university has set up the Life Sciences Industry Liaison Lab with first-class facilities for science and research. The facility is also used by local businesses.

The Kent and Medway Medical School, a partnership with the University of Kent, opened in 2020 offering 100 places each year on its five-year undergraduate programmes. Foundation years are offered as a way in to a number of degree courses, allowing those without the necessary qualifications to take on a three-year programme after successfully completing that first step. 

The curriculum is gaining three new degrees — food science and nutrition, geography, and wildlife ecology and conservation science. The choice of degree apprenticeships is growing. At the last count there were 445 apprentices across ten degree programmes and one higher apprenticeship. Courses include chartered management, social work, occupational therapy and diagnostic radiography. By September 2023, when a course for enhanced clinical practitioners will begin, the university expects to have 700 student apprentices. 

More financial support is being put in place and the university expects a rising proportion of students to qualify for new awards. About 16 per cent of new students in 2021 received some sort of financial help, including grants of up to £600 per year of study for those from households with incomes under £25,000. 

Sports and choral scholarships are also available. A modern sports centre is close to the Canterbury campus and there are playing fields a mile away in the Kent countryside at Stodmarsh, and at Polo Farm Sports Club two miles away. 

The university works with local clubs to provide access to facilities. Canterbury Rugby Club allows free membership to students, and they can use Canterbury Golf Club and an athletics track at a local college. The Verena Holmes Building features high specification provision for sport and exercise science.

There is enough residential accommodation to guarantee a place for all foundation and first-year students who apply by the end of July. The cobbled streets of Canterbury are home to a large student population and there is a lively choice of entertainment in the city.