The University of Essex may be a Sixties institution but its setting at the main campus, in Colchester, is the historic 200-acre Wivenhoe Park, immortalised by Constable in oils in the 1800s. Today the grounds are better known for their brutalist accommodation towers built in the 1960s to help the university realise its founding vision to integrate living alongside learning. More recent developments include the Health, Wellbeing and Care Hub, which provides integrated services to locals while delivering work placement and research opportunities for students within nursing, allied health therapies, law, computing and social work, among other subjects

What is the University of Essex’s reputation?

The social sciences are Essex’s longstanding academic strength. The university ranks 73rd for sociology in the 2024 QS World University Rankings and sits in the 51st to 100th band for politics. Politics and sociology were also to the fore for Essex in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), along with economics and modern languages. Across all subject areas, 83 per cent of Essex’s research was rated world-leading or internationally excellent. While an improvement on its performance in the previous REF in 2014, even bigger gains elsewhere meant that Essex dropped 16 places to 41st in our research quality index

Essex celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2024, the year after it was rated triple silver in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023) — overall and for the underpinning aspects of student experience and student outcomes.

The university’s position in our academic ranking has fluctuated, going from the top 25 in 2017 — when Essex was shortlisted for our University of the Year award — to 56=, down from 54th in a year. The National Student Survey (NSS) keeps Essex leapfrogging up the ranks: from 92= to 50th for teaching quality and 53th to 25th for the wider student experience.

The university remains determined to keep up its longstanding European links post-Brexit. As a member of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) alliance of ten research-intensive universities — including Maastricht in the Netherlands and Bremen in Germany — Essex is able to offer students study opportunities across the Continent.

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

A freeze on staff promotions was introduced in 2024 to help prevent a financial deficit for the institution, which in common with many others has suffered funding issues due to a drop in the recruitment of international postgraduate students. Larra Anderson, the university’s pro vice-chancellor (education), said the measures meant “we would be able to protect jobs and disciplines.”

Eighteen undergraduate courses have been suspended, among them global politics; journalism and modern languages; sociology and politics; and accounting with economics. However, the curriculum has gained four new degrees: business and analytics; stage management; biotechnology; and a tourism degree, for which students will spend the first year on placements in the four-star Wivenhoe House Hotel on the Colchester campus.

A new degree apprenticeship in biomedical science launches in 2025.

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

The majority of undergraduate courses require between BBC and BBB (112 to 120 Ucas tariff points). Essex introduced a contextual admissions policy for the 2024 admissions cycle; it undercuts standard offers by up to two A-level grades, or equivalent, to UK applicants who meet eligibility criteria.

The downturn in undergraduates from EU countries coming to UK universities since Brexit is keenly felt at Essex, contributing to an overall decline in applications.

What are the graduate prospects?

Work-based learning and placements are offered on almost all courses and the student development team works with employers of all sizes to help students gain career insights, work experience and commercial awareness. The Knowledge Gateway on the Colchester campus is home to more than 90 businesses, many of which offer internships or employment. Essex has fallen outside the top half of our graduate prospects table, ranking 91=, based on the proportion of leavers in high-skilled work or further study 15 months on from their degrees, a drop of 14 places. 

What is the University of Essex’s campus like?

As well as the spacious main campus there is a modern seaside campus at Southend, which has courses in business, health and the arts. The third and final campus, Loughton, is home to its acting school, East 15, which counts the actress Alison Steadman and director Stephen Daldry among its alumni.

Upgrades to the university’s academic facilities include modern skills laboratories and simulation equipment at the School of Health and Social Care. The School of Life Sciences has extended its marine biology and aquatic sciences laboratory. Its new £3.5 million Smart Technology Experimental Plant Suite (Steps) provides a research facility where the internationally acclaimed Plant Productivity Group are continuing to study how to improve crop photosynthesis. 

The £19 million Parkside phase of the university’s Knowledge Gateway research and technology park in Colchester incorporates the new Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing as well as the new Health Wellbeing and Care Hub.

Everything you need to know about the University of Essex’s student life and wellbeing support

The students’ union includes a refurbished bar and common room, and there are over 100 student-led societies, along with volunteering opportunities. Arts and culture are well supported too, with three theatres — one on each campus — as well as the Art Exchange at the Colchester site, which hosts exhibitions, talks and film screenings.In 2023-24 Essex enjoyed its best Bucs (British Universities and Colleges Sport) season ever, reaching the top 30 (29th) out of 150 higher education institutions. The £12 million Essex Sport Arena in Colchester hosts the university’s elite national basketball and volleyball teams, the Essex Rebels. The arena is part of a 40-acre sports area that includes an 18-hole frisbee-golf course, all-weather tennis courts and room for five-a-side football. Essex now has a Women’s High Performance Football Centre, in partnership with the Football Association, and Essex County Cricket was chosen by the England and Wales Cricket Board for an elite women’s cricket team. Rugby-playing students are benefiting from a new partnership with Colchester Rugby Club. Student athletes also have access to sports testing and coaching at the university’s Human Performance Unit.

All students have a named personal tutor for general and academic support. Counselling is available on all three campuses, and students can access SilverCloud online cognitive behavioural therapy resources. Essex offers suicide prevention workshops to all students, in partnership with the national charity Papyrus. Antiracism training is run for students and staff, and upon registration all new students must complete a mandatory online sexual consent and bystander training module.

What do the students say?

“The experience at Essex is one like no other — a real home away from home. From making crafts while making friends at SU Makes to experiencing hundreds of different cultures through community events, or partying the night away in our on-campus nightclub, there really is something for every type of personality. Events such as axe throwing and a petting farm on campus help students through their tests.”
Kieran Phillips, the Essex students’ union (SU) president and a philosophy, politics and economics graduate

What about student accommodation at the University of Essex?

The interiors of the six accommodation tower blocks on the main campus have been revamped in a multimillion-pound makeover. The Pastures halls of residence welcomed their first students in September 2023, adding 1,204 rooms and 58 studio apartments. Halls at the Southend campus contribute to Essex’s provision of more than 6,000 spaces. The university guarantees accommodation to first-years who make Essex their firm choice and meet application deadlines.

How diverse and inclusive is the University of Essex?

More diverse than most pre-1992 universities, Essex is 29= in our social inclusion index, rising slightly from 33= last year. Essex has ambitious outreach programmes in local schools and colleges, offering mentoring to year 9 pupils and activities for sixth-formers.

Everything you need to know about scholarships and bursaries at the University of Essex

Many awards are automatically applied and their number is uncapped. Their value ranges from between £250 to more than £10,000. Students from households with incomes up to £35,000 are eligible for the £3,000 Essex Futures bursary. Merit-based academic awards include a law scholarship.