According to the stellar rates of student satisfaction expressed in the latest National Student Survey, published in summer 2022, Leeds Trinity is on the right track. The university is 18th for satisfaction with the wider undergraduate experience (a giant leap of 100 places), and joint 24th for satisfaction with teaching quality (up 89 places, year-on-year). The massive rises show how significantly student satisfaction at Leeds Trinity were affected by the pandemic, when its scores fell out of the top 100. Teaching has returned to an in-person model of delivery, with online resources provided to complement face-to-face sessions. 

The university has its roots in two Catholic teacher-training colleges established in the 1960s, while today it welcomes students of all faiths or none. Recent developments on campus include new psychology teaching facilities and a 3G football pitch. They follow other upgrades such as a fitness and sports therapy suites and a new motion-capture analysis lab for use by students on sport and media courses. Photography students have gained two studios and a modern darkroom.

The first business management and law students started their courses in September and three new degrees begin in 2023: professional policing, physiotherapy and biomedical science. Applications were up by 12 per cent in the 2021 admissions cycle and new student enrolments rose by 20 per cent, year-on-year. The rise looks likely to continue, according to a snapshot at the end of March 2022  that showed an increase of 8 per cent rise compared with the same point a year before.  

All Leeds Trinity degrees include professional work placements without students needing to take a sandwich year. Volunteering, at home or abroad, is also credited as a placement. All graduates leave with at least three months’ work experience relevant to their degrees on their CV and references from employers. The university’s network of industry partnerships means students are placed at local, national and global organisations.

Graduate prospects slipped slightly in our rankings, by four places, to 115=, based on the proportion in highly skilled work or postgraduate study 15 months on from finishing a degree course.

The placement scheme contributed to a silver rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Assessors highlighted high-quality support mechanisms for employability, including professional placements, as well as excellent use of technology and innovative assessment and feedback. 

The Centre for Apprenticeships, Work-based Learning and Skills co-ordinates Leeds Trinity’s earn-as-you-learn programmes and has specialist tutors and support staff. The university offers seven programmes, including digital marketing, business-to-business sales, and children, young people and families practice. A police constable programme is run in partnership with the West Yorkshire force. A total of 670 student apprentices were enrolled at the last count but Leeds Trinity forecasts significant growth in numbers by 2023, to 1,200. 

Theology produced by far the best results for Leeds Trinity in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021). Its submissions in sport and exercise sciences, leisure and tourism were also strong. Overall, Leeds Trinity has almost maintained is position in our research quality rankings (122nd, down just one place year-on-year).   

Leeds Trinity succeeds in attracting the eighth-highest proportion of students from non-selective state schools (97.6 per cent), while almost six in ten are the first in their family to attend university, in seventh place, and nearly seven in ten students are aged over 21 when they enrol. 

Initiatives to widen participation include contextualised admissions, foundation years, pre-16 support, and, for local year 12 students, taster days and a summer school. Most successful course graduates enrol at Leeds Trinity the following year. The university was also the first in Yorkshire to receive the Race Equality Charter bronze award in recognition of its work to improve representation, progression and success of black, Asian and minority ethnic students. 

A spin studio and two floors of gym equipment feature in the campus fitness suite, with free weights and a training rig. Bookings and online classes are available via an app. Other facilities include 3G and grass pitches, an athletics track and outdoor hard courts for netball and tennis.

Halls of residence have been upgraded, doing away with part-catered provision and creating bigger kitchens to suit self-catering. There are 783 rooms, allocated on a first come, first served basis, and all students who apply by the Ucas deadline can be accommodated.