Not too big, not too small — Leicester’s size and relative affordability are a draw for the city’s large student population. The university began in 1870 as the Leicester School of Art, founded to provide education and training for workers from the city’s booming industries. Renamed in 1992 after Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester who founded the first representative English parliament in 1265, it has joined a civic agreement with its neighbours — the University of Leicester and Loughborough University, and local authorities — to tackle economic and social challenges across the region. 

The university has a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2032 and finished in the top 10 of the People and Planet league table for 2023-24.

What is De Montfort University’s reputation?

In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) more than 60 per cent of De Montfort’s (DMU) research was judged as world-leading or internationally excellent. The university entered the largest number of academics yet and featured more research carried out by women and ethnic minority academics than it has before. However, against stronger performances by other universities, the results triggered a 29-place fall for DMU in our research quality rankings to 96th position.

It has also dipped in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023), from gold in 2017 to silver, underpinned by silver for student outcomes but only bronze for the student experience. 

Feedback from undergraduates in the National Student Survey (NSS) gives De Montfort a boost to 105th place (up from 115) for teaching quality and 81st (from 110) for the wider student experience, our latest NSS analysis shows.

What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available? 

Acting; international tourism and hospitality management; esports production; and user experience design were added in 2024.

What are De Montfort University’s entry requirements — and my chances of getting in?

Entry standards are at the more accessible end of the scale, and with new entrants averaging 108 Ucas points, DMU is 121= for entry standards. Contextual offers have just been introduced.

What are the graduate prospects?

True to its roots in local industry, De Montfort University offers guaranteed work experience — a placement year or accreditation by professional bodies — for all of its undergraduates. Students can claim travel bursaries of up to £200 per year to get to employment-related activities such as interviews for internships, jobs or employers’ open days. There is also lifelong careers support available for graduates. Our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey shows a downward trajectory in the past year, however, with 69.3 per cent of leavers in highly skilled work or postgraduate study within 15 months (105th, down four places).

What is De Montfort University’s campus like?

Unusually for a campus university, DMU is located in the city centre and is housed in buildings ranging from medieval to 21st-century architecture. Investment of £136 million has upgraded teaching and learning spaces including the Yard — a £5.5 million extension for the Faculty of Business and Law — which also has revamped facilities in the Great Hall of Leicester Castle Business School. DMU also opened its new trading floor — providing students of accounting, economics and finance courses with a simulation of financial trading and investing — and pharmacy practice suite, a mock pharmacy environment for students to hone their clinical skills, patient consultations and prescription labelling. 

A £6.5 million Digital Tech Learning Hub is on the way, combining creative teaching and learning facilities for cyber and computer science.

Everything you need to know about De Montfort University’s student life and wellbeing support

The mental health inclusion team offers practical advice and support including assessments for teaching adjustments while personal tutors and the online Healthy DMU hub provide first points of contact for students seeking support.

The free Hospital Hopper bus service gets students around the city and to the university sports facilities in Beaumont Park including new 3G pitches for football, rugby, American football and lacrosse and a modern clubhouse. Facilities on campus include a 25m swimming pool, sports hall, fitness suite and dance studio.

There is an Islamic prayer space — which can accommodate 1,000 students — a chapel and a multi faith room. 

What do the students say?

“DMU is a place of community, where you are welcomed the moment you arrive on campus. It’s a place you can get involved in university life in so many ways, regardless of background or where they've travelled from.”
Amir Iqbal, students’ union development executive and accounting and finance graduate

What about student accommodation at De Montfort University?

There are more than 1,030 spaces in halls of residence — sufficient for the university to guarantee a space to first-years who apply by the deadline, though many DMU students live at home.

How diverse and inclusive is De Montfort University?

More than half of DMU’s students are from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, placing the university 25th in England and Wales on that measure and in our social inclusion index overall — the university’s eighth successive year in the top 40. Its efforts earned the university a silver award in the Race Equality Charter in 2023, the first for a British university.

Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at De Montfort University

A wide-ranging package of awards largely benefit those from low-income backgrounds, or who have left care or are estranged from their families. Most are worth £1,000 a year. The Stoneygate Scholarship of £4,000 a year is awarded to three academically able students from low-income or disadvantaged backgrounds. DMU also offers an Article 26 scholarship to students seeking asylum, who may qualify for a full fee waiver plus contribution towards living costs. The Made From More scholarship programme has made financial awards available to help students meet the rising costs of living and studying.