Control, alt, develop: Lancaster’s InfoLab building on its 560-acre campus, visible from the M6 motorway, has been upgraded as part of a new semi-immersive decision theatre and “data cyber quarter” laboratory. The facility is one of the largest of its type in the UK, supporting undergraduate degrees in computer science, cyber security and data science as well as postgraduate courses and research. It has also recruited more than 30 academics to focus on digital threats and support cybersecurity initiatives in the northwest of England. 

It is part of a wider £220 million investment since 2013 to provide purpose-built facilities that help to maintain its position in the elite top 20 of our academic league table.

What is Lancaster University’s reputation? 

A research-led university founded in 1964, Lancaster reaped strong results in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021): 91 per cent of its work was assessed as internationally excellent or world-leading. Lancaster outdoes seven Russell Group institutions in our research quality index, ranking 19th, with linguistics and mathematics producing some of the university’s best results.

It is a regular among the top 150 universities in the world according to QS (joint 141st for 2025), and there are rates of student satisfaction to match the research pedigree. Lancaster is 14th for satisfaction with the wider student experience and 30th for their evaluation of teaching quality, according to our analysis of the National Student Survey.

Awarded gold overall in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023), the university was found to offer “a supportive learning environment in which students have access to a readily available range of outstanding quality academic support tailored to their needs” and “outstanding rates of successful progression for the provider’s students and courses”.

Lancaster is also the largest provider of UK transnational education in Malaysia, in an academic partnership with Sunway University, and is becoming the first UK institution to open an international branch in Indonesia, in a new collaboration with Deakin University in Australia.

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

There are newly launched degrees in international management, data science, cybersecurity, and English literature and politics, as well as a suite of global religions degrees — offered with international relations, philosophy or politics.The option of a placement year or a year abroad is embedded in an increasingly wide range of courses from 2025, including architecture, mathematics with economics, and English literature and politics. 

A small number of programmes have also been removed: biomedicine (study abroad), English language in the media, and a master’s programme in psychology.

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

Standard requirements range from BBB up to A*AA. All courses are included in the university’s contextual offer scheme (other than medicine, which has its own widening access scheme), with eligible applicants having their offers undercut by two A-level grades, or equivalent qualifications.Those progressing from the Lancaster Access Programme or Realising Opportunities programmes qualify for a three-grade reduction. A fifth of new undergraduates came through clearing. 

What are the graduate prospects?

Up five places and ranked 29th overall for proportion of graduates in highly skilled work or further study after 15 months, Lancaster’s engagement with industry is sector-leading. Its wide-ranging relationships span corporations, small to medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, and the public, private and third sectors.What is Lancaster University’s campus like?

Impressive facilities include the Margaret Fell lecture theatre — the biggest on campus, with capacity for 400 people, while on a different scale Lancaster’s high-tech architecture studio provides specialist facilities for up to 48 students. 

Among the newest additions to campus is a second engineering building, which stretches to 2,900 sq m over three floors. It includes a research-rig hall; an electron microscope suite; chemical, hydrogen and bioengineering laboratories; and a student-led maker space. 

New developments include “heat-pump-ready buildings” at Lancaster — which declared a climate emergency in 2020 and has a solar farm opening at its Forest Hills site this year to provide renewable energy for campus heat and electricity. 

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

All students belong to one of nine colleges (eight of them undergraduate), which is where they sleep, study and socialise. Each college has a 24/7 porter. There are more than 160 societies.

The arts are well supported, from theatre, comedy, music, cinema and exhibitions to classical concerts and festivals on the Bailrigg campus as well as in and around Lancaster. Providing a bedrock to cultural life on campus is Lancaster Arts — a combined arts organisation and part of Arts Council England’s national portfolio.

The sports facilities are good and easy to access. A £20 million sports centre on campus features a 25m swimming pool, four squash courts, a sauna and steam room and a climbing wall and bouldering wall. Outdoors, there are grass football pitches and a 3G pitch. Students can stretch their legs with a walk in the woods or commune with the much-loved campus ducks.

Through the university’s mental health service students can access support from mental health nurses, cognitive behavioural therapists, counsellors, social workers and occupational therapists.

What do the students say? 

“A campus university with woodland walkways, pockets of green spaces and the beautiful library all informed my decision to pick Lancaster. The city of Lancaster is perfect — on the small side but with lots to do. Lovely spots — the canal, Williamson Park, a range of cafés and shops — have made it feel like home. Joining societies builds your community at university, and Lancaster has large arts, sports and science scenes.”
Maria-Ella-May Hill, film and creative writing  graduate and member of Bowland college

What about student accommodation at Lancaster University?

Undergraduates can select two (unweighted) preference combinations of college/room/letting period before the university allocates places as best it can. First-years who meet the deadline are guaranteed a place. Those entering through clearing are normally guaranteed accommodation too. 

How diverse and inclusive is Lancaster University?

Lancaster’s chancellor is Alan Milburn, the former chairman of the Social Mobility Commission and MP, and a Lancaster alumnus. He said he “got lucky” in finding his way to the university from a deprived comprehensive in Newcastle. His time at Lancaster set him on the path to top jobs in the Labour government between 1998 and 2003. Lancaster is a member of the Realising Opportunities programme for research-intensive universities and has pledged its support to students from military families, care leavers and sanctuary seekers. In our social inclusion index, in which Lancaster places 91st overall, its greatest achievement is reaching 12th place in England and Wales for reducing the black achievement gap to minus 8.3 per cent.

Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at Lancaster University

A high proportion — 44 per cent — of UK undergraduates received financial support from Lancaster’s wide-ranging financial package in 2024. This includes a £1,000 annual bursary for UK students with a household income of less than £30,000 (in some cases given with £300 towards the cost of a laptop or PC). There is also the one-off £2,000 Lancaster scholarship awarded to all UK entrants with at least AAA at A-level, or the equivalent, and five GCSEs at grade A/7 or above who put Lancaster as their firm choice. Other support includes a £2,000 Lancaster Global Scholarship for high-achieving international students, which is awarded as a tuition fee reduction. Care leavers and those estranged from their families qualify for £2,000-a-year bursaries and extras including printing credit, a laundry card, a bedding pack and a £500 graduation bursary in their final year to support accommodation costs. A new student money advice service adds to Lancaster’s support.