Research in the fields of neuroscience, microbiology and infection, cell biology and disease models benefits from Warwick’s new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building. Life sciences and medical students are also gaining from being taught within its dedicated facilities. The university places 64th in the 2023 QS World Rankings.

Another arts-focused project — the university’s expansion of its Warwick Arts Centre — opened last year, bringing a concert hall, theatre and café. Its opening coincided with nearby Coventry’s investiture as European City of Culture. The market town of Warwick is a longer seven-mile journey from the university’s campus, despite its name. 

The university (winner of our previous edition’s Teaching Quality award) is delivering all teaching and learning in person only this year, supported by lecture-capture so students can listen back remotely afterwards. In our analysis of the latest National Student Survey (NSS) outcomes, Warwick ranks 36th for students’ evaluation of teaching quality — although a 20-place drop, year-on-year, it still places the university higher than all other Russell Group members on this measure. 

NSS scores for the wider undergraduate experience have held up better, with Warwick slipping only five places to feature in this year’s top 25. Its success on student satisfaction is a particular credit to Warwick, which bucks the trend at many other research-intensive universities whose undergraduates are often less content with their experiences. 

In the government’s 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), though, Warwick was restricted to silver, in spite of consistent high achievement by its students and staff, excellent completion and employment, rates and exceptional employer feedback — criteria suitable for a gold award.

The TEF panel was impressed by the culture of research-stimulated learning that challenged students, but said Warwick had missed its benchmarks for student satisfaction and continuation rates among some groups of students. Our findings differ, with student satisfaction now firmly on track and Warwick placing in our top ten for completion rates — with just over 2 per cent of students dropping out, significantly below the expected level.

Graduate prospects are in the top ten nationally, with the number of graduates employed in high-skilled jobs or further study 15 months after finishing their degree approaching nine in ten (86.3 per cent). Warwick was the among the ten most targeted universities by leading graduate employers in 2021-22 according to the High Fliers Graduate Market report. 

The university’s large business school has a London base in the Shard, which delivers part-time programmes. Further afield, Warwick partners with universities across Europe, North America, South America, Australasia and east Asia to offer study-abroad opportunities for undergraduates, with availability varying by department.

Global sustainable development students spend part of their second year at Monash University — in Melbourne, in Australia, or Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. The history department takes students to Venice in the autumn in a partnership with the University of Venice Ca’Foscari that gives students access to its libraries and other facilities. 

Warwick’s portfolio of degree apprenticeships comprises 27 programmes — including five strands of engineering; social work; and senior leadership. Student apprentice numbers are expected to reach about 1,200 by September 2023. 

Warwick edges two places further inside the top 100 of our social inclusion ranking this year and sits seventh among the 21 Russell Group universities of England and Wales. The university admits more students from selective state and independent schools than most; the 63.4 per cent drawn from non-selective state schools ranking Warwick 106th on this measure. The majority of students (68.3 per cent) come from families with a history of higher education. But with 43.1 per cent of students from ethnic minority backgrounds its diversity ranks in the upper third of universities and Warwick’s black attainment gap is among the top ten narrowest. 

Widening participation initiatives include the Warwick Scholars programme, which supports post-16 students from the region to apply successfully to Warwick and flourish once there. Contextual offers up to two A-level grades or four International Baccalaureate points lower than standard may be made to applicants who qualify under a number of widening participation criteria. Foundation years are offered on courses within the Warwick Business School. 

A £49 million sports and wellness hub includes a 230-station gym, a 25m swimming pool, fitness studios, bouldering and climbing walls, a sports hall, squash courts and 4G outdoor pitches.

First-years who apply by the end of July are guaranteed accommodation. The university aims to house them on campus — where it has more than 7,000 spaces. It also manages 1,883 rooms off site. The new £62 million Cryfield Village development has added 830 residential rooms.

There are more than 300 student societies and the students’ union is the centre of on-campus social life. Off campus, students tend to live in the Earlsdon suburb of Coventry, Leamington Spa or Canley right by the campus. All students must complete the Warwick Values Programme before starting their courses, which covers support around alcohol, drugs, sexual consent and racial, LGBTQ+ and social tolerance.