Practice-based learning is the theme at Middlesex. Law students, for example, use chambers inside Hendon Town Hall as a mock courtroom. Not far from the northwest London campus, Middlesex has a £23 million centre of simulation-based learning in the West Stand of the StoneX Stadium — the home ground of Saracens Rugby Club. The facility provides hands-on learning facilities to students enrolled on Middlesex’s sports science, nursing and midwifery and healthcare sciences programmes.
The university’s flexible course system offers a January start on some programmes and under its 2031 learning framework, timetables are organised to help students to manage their studies alongside work, caring and other responsibilities — especially helpful for Middlesex’s mature students, who represent more than a third of the intake. Most of the 15,000 students at Middlesex call Hendon their home campus although the university’s overseas operations are growing, with 5,600 students in Dubai and about 1,600 in Mauritius. Those in the capital can enjoy suburban tranquillity or hop on the Northern Line to discover all that central London has to offer.
What is Middlesex University’s reputation?
Formerly a teacher training institute, which was founded in 1878, Middlesex became a university in 1992. In the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023) it was awarded silver overall, while rated bronze for the student experience and silver for student outcomes. In our analysis of the National Student Survey 2024, Middlesex is 40= for satisfaction with teaching quality (up from 33=) but the university has dropped 51 places to 80= for the student experience.
The university’s earn-while-you-learn route is flourishing. Its apprenticeship programmes are expected to attract about 1,350 enrolments by 2026, with students training for a career in fields such as teaching, social work and policing.
Middlesex submitted work in a dozen subject areas to the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), a broader range than the previous assessment in 2014. Business and management was the strongest area in the university's submission. Although Middlesex recorded an improvement in the REF 2021 compared with previous exercise, rival institutions did better, and the university slipped down our research quality ranking to 81=. Overall, Middlesex picks up a place in our academic league table (116th).
What degree courses have been discontinued and what new courses are available?
The university closed its master’s course in theatre arts in 2025. There are no new course introductions in 2025-26.
What are Middlesex University’s entry requirements — and my chances of getting in?
Courses demand from 120 to 96 Ucas tariff points. An applicant’s work experience and portfolio are also taken into consideration. In 2024, 27 per cent of students enrolled via clearing.
What are the graduate prospects?
More than 1,000 partners worldwide contribute to developing Middlesex’s courses and research including Warner Bros Discovery, Ogilvy and PwC. Budding entrepreneurs can soak up ideas from workshops, mentoring and the MDXcelerator competition. Despite such efforts, Middlesex ranks only 117= for graduate prospects, based on our analysis of the Graduate Outcomes survey, which tracks the proportion of those going on to highly skilled jobs or further study within 15 months.
What is Middlesex University’s campus like?
On the main campus, a £200 million investment programme has consolidated library services and added two academic buildings at the business school. Facilities for the visual arts and design include a dance theatre and studios, music, radio and television studios; fashion and textiles workshops and dedicated facilities for animation, graphic design and illustration. There are new diagnostic suites and laboratories, too.
At the StoneX Stadium, the university has a simulated hospital environment, a cardiology ward, and sport science labs where students learn from sports professionals and athletes at the Saracens rugby club.
When can I visit?
mdx.ac.uk
Everything you need to know about Middlesex University’s student life and wellbeing support
Sports facilities include a bouldering wall, table tennis tables and fitness pod. On campus, the students’ union hosts balls, swap and repair shops, and comedy nights. There are more than 85 clubs and societies catering for every interest. Transport links are good so a foray into London is easily achieved.
The university is able to provide one-to-one short-term counselling and mental health support, as well as co-ordination with external services. Students diagnosed with mental health conditions are given extra time in exams, longer loan periods for library books and access to a specialist mentor. A disability and dyslexia team works across departments.
What do the students say?
“It was the first time I had been in an environment where all they saw was the person in front of them. At MDX, all they cared about was that a person was hard-working, ambitious and trying their best. It taught me to look for an individual’s potential and work with them to reach their goals instead of focusing on their past.”Charlene Simba, law alumna
What about student accommodation at Middlesex University?
Full-time first-years get priority in halls, but there is no guarantee. However, all first-years who applied in 2024-25 were housed.
How diverse and inclusive is Middlesex University?
Middlesex rises 13 places in our social inclusion index to reach our top 20. More than 70 per cent of students are from black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds (ninth), and six in ten are the first in their family to go to university (43=).
Community-based outreach initiatives help to widen participation and the Make Your Mark programme is designed to break down barriers to higher education.
Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at Middlesex University
Loans of laptops and tech are available to all students. The Professor Malcolm Sargeant Scholarship (£2,900) is open to first-year students of any subject. There are also ten £1,000 law bursaries and two £1,000 bursaries for nursing and midwifery students. Merit awards of up to £2,000 and faculty prizes including sports scholarships are available.
