Surrey undergraduates return such positive feedback in each year’s National Student Survey (NSS) that it consistently ranks in the upper tiers of our table for rates of student satisfaction. This year it placed joint third for the broad experience and 15th for teaching quality in our new NSS analysis. But the university, based just outside Guildford, is not resting on its laurels: campus and academic advances include the opening of four MySurrey Dots hubs, which provide spaces for study, clubs, socialising and events; and welcoming its first medical students in September 2024, building on its reputation for delivering excellent nursing and allied healthcare courses.  

What is the University of Surrey’s reputation?

It was founded in 1891 in London as the Battersea Polytechnic Institute, before expansion necessitated a move to Guildford in 1962. Four years later it became the University of Surrey. It remains in 21st position in our main academic ranking, rising from 39th place three years ago. Its research pedigree (Surrey is in the top 30 of our research quality index) was boosted by excellent results in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), in which 41 per cent of its work from more than 660 academics was assessed as world-leading. Economics produced some of the best results. The university’s hospitality and tourism courses are a magnet for students worldwide, and it is judged to be top in Britain and 15th in the world for hospitality and leisure management in the QS World University Rankings 2024. 

Surrey was rated triple silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023). Assessors commended its “physical and virtual learning resources that are tailored and used effectively to support outstanding teaching and learning”, and found “effective engagement with students, leading to continuous improvements to their experiences and outcomes”.

Surrey has not been immune to the financial pressures facing UK higher education, though: in 2024 the vice-chancellor, Professor Max Lu, announced restructuring plans (which included voluntary staff redundancies) to help to reduce the university’s £10 million deficit.

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

Courses that have been withdrawn for 2024 are: automotive engineering; English literature with German; mathematics with music; modern languages (French with German); modern languages (Spanish with German); primary and community care (community children’s nursing); primary and community care (district nursing); public health practice (health visiting); public health practice (school nursing); and international tourism management with transport. The business economics programme will close from 2025. New for 2024 is medicine (graduate entry) and from 2025 there will be degrees in business economics and data analytics; games design; criminology and psychology, and international airline and airport management — subject to validation.

What are the University of Surrey’s entry requirements – and my chances of getting in?

The minimum requirement is CCC; the highest is AAA. Surrey’s contextual admissions policy, introduced for 2022 to widen participation, has proved successful, with almost a third (28 per cent) of its students qualifying for a two-grade reduction in A-level entry requirements. 

What are the graduate prospects?

The university’s long-standing focus on producing work-ready graduates is paying off: 83.7 per cent of its graduates were in high-skilled jobs or further study 15 months on from finishing their degrees, the Graduate Outcomes survey shows. This puts Surrey at 17= for graduate prospects, up nine places.

What is the University of Surrey campus like?

Surrey’s two campuses, Stag Hill and Manor Park, are about a mile apart and a ten-minute walk from the centre of Guildford. Among its modern developments are the £45 million School of Veterinary Medicine; the £14 million Kate Granger Building at Surrey Research Park, which houses the School of Health Sciences’ clinical simulation suites for training nurses, midwives, physicians' associates and paramedics; and the recently upgraded £5 million psychology facility, which has virtual and augmented reality suites and soundproof neuropsychology laboratories. Specialist resources are also provided at the School of Mechanical Engineering Sciences’ design centre. There is a moot court for law students, a crime scene flat for criminology and forensics students, a double-height TV studio with a Dolby Atmos surround-sound recording studio for music and media students, and the Energy Hub at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, for advanced research and teaching in the fields of battery technology, energy storage, green hydrogen and the elimination of carbon dioxide.

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

Guildford is a reassuring environment for students, being not too big and not too small and surrounded by countryside. Under the Team Surrey banner there are more than 45 sports clubs for all abilities. The £36 million Sports Park is the place to have a go at everything from badminton to korfball; its extensive indoor and outdoor facilities include a 120-station gym, a new interactive squash wall and an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and are up to par for top teams including Harlequins rugby union, Surrey Scorchers basketball and Guildford City Swimming Club. Students can earn rewards for keeping active through the SurreyMoves+ app. On the arts and culture scene, more than 20 productions are staged annually at the university’s four theatres and there are various music groups, including a big band, string orchestra and the No Wave alternative music society. The Surrey New Writers Festival runs each spring and there is an annual Morag Morris Poetry Lecture, as well as foreign film screenings and sessions with the university’s poet and writer in residence.  

The Centre for Wellbeing offers virtual, phone and in-person appointments from Monday to Friday, and students have access to a consultation with a counsellor or a one-to-one meeting with the mental health practitioner team and can be referred to outside agencies.

What do the students say?

“Our lovely green campus fosters a close community where memories are made at our lake in the sun, and at our on-campus nightclub Rubix in the moonlight. At the heart of Surrey will always be the students from all over the world, encompassing diversity and cultural appreciation.”
Jo Yau, students' union president, and mathematics graduate

What about student accommodation at the University of Surrey?

First-years who have chosen Surrey as their firm choice and apply by the deadline are guaranteed a place in halls of residence — 224 of them costing less than £100 a week. Surrey can also offer on-campus accommodation to students who come through clearing.

How diverse and inclusive is the University of Surrey?

In 80th place in our social inclusion ranking (up four places), Surrey is among the country's more ethnically diverse institutions, with more than a third of students from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds.

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

About 10 per cent of the UK undergraduate intake of 2024 received the main bursary, worth £2,500 a year, for students from households with incomes of less than £20,000 and in areas of little participation to higher education. Support is also available for those who have left care or are estranged from their families. 

A range of subject-specific financial awards includes the Fluor Diversity Scholarship, worth up to £10,000, which is handed to two UK undergraduates of mechanical, electrical and electronic, civil, or chemical and process engineering.