About Loughborough

Loughborough is an exceptional university. During uncertain times for higher education, and whilst others scramble for the safety of the pack, we are proud to be different.

The combination of our excellent student experience, enterprising outlook, world-leading research and unparalleled sporting success gives rise to something that is truly special and distinctive amongst UK universities.

Our education and student experience

We are proud of our hard-earned reputation for education and student experience at Loughborough.

The TEF 2023 logo with text alongside stating Overall: Gold, Student experience: Gold, Student outcomes: Gold and Teaching Excellence Framework below

We were awarded Gold overall, Gold for student experience and Gold for student outcomes in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), plus Gold in TEF (2017).

We have been the top mainstream English University in the National Student Survey in three of the last seven years, and consistently in the top five.

Our success comes from rigorous self-evaluation, continuous innovation, an uncompromising approach to quality and standards and responsiveness to changes in the external environment. We benefit hugely from a deep and constructive partnership at all levels between our students and our staff.

We aim to provide our students with an exceptional learning environment that offers outstanding, innovative teaching, opportunities to contribute to pioneering research, and options to maximise their business potential coupled with wide ranging personal support.

We also aim to offer the best all-round student experience, providing our students with a wide range of opportunities that enable them to achieve their full potential, professionally, personally, as well as academically.

  • We will deliver a distinctive, high quality academic experience grounded in applied, real-world learning, supporting and inspiring our students and staff to achieve their full potential.
  • We will create a high expectation, supportive environment where every student can access opportunities to develop the skills, confidence and resilience for future success.
  • We will foster a vibrant student community built on togetherness, wellbeing and shared ambition, where all students can thrive and realise their potential.
  • We will be rooted in our campus experience and global in outlook, bringing learning, collaboration and personal development to life in an environment designed for participation and growth.

Together, these elements will create a distinctive Loughborough experience - what we describe as Loughboroughness.

  • To create a sector-leading and innovative academic experience at Loughborough.
  • To create an equitable, inclusive student experience which ensures all students (from all backgrounds, at all levels) feel they belong at Loughborough.
  • To create a future-fit learning and living environment which enhances the student experience.
  • To deliver a life-long learning offer which aligns with Loughborough’s strengths and engages students/ learners beyond our usual reach.

We take pride in our graduate outcomes and outstanding rates of successful progression into employment. Placements are a key part of Loughborough’s undergraduate education offer, with typically 50% of our students undertaking a year-long placement or study exchange. Students are supported by our Careers Network, part of our awarding-winning Student Services, and our Student Success Academy.

We also offer postgraduate education on our campus in Stratford, East London on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with key opportunities for future development. We are also one of four education partners in the East Midlands Institute of Technology which launched in 2024.

We are recognised for sector-leading campus facilities, including our award-winning STEMLab - a shared, multidisciplinary environment that has redefined how we teach science and engineering.

Our recent £6m investment in DigiLabs creates a distinctive, future-focused ecosystem spanning Extended Reality, 3D data capture and visualisation, robotics, and simulation, modelling and artificial intelligence. DigiLabs is not simply a collection of facilities: it is transforming our pedagogic model.

It enables immersive, applied and interdisciplinary learning at scale, equipping students to work confidently with emerging technologies and to tackle complex, real-world challenges. In doing so, it powerfully advances our digital education strategy and ensures our graduates are not only technically fluent, but creative, adaptable and future-ready.

Ambitious research and innovation

At Loughborough we think differently: we challenge convention, solve problems and take action. Through our research and innovation we are finding answers, discovering the things that matter and adding to knowledge, creating positive change across society.

Our University strategy emphasises the importance of intensifying our research and innovation activities to continue to deliver transformative impact. We will do this by being adventurous and using our distinctive strengths to support, inspire and empower people to achieve extraordinary things.

A history of sporting excellence

We are proud of our hard-earned global reputation for sport. From elite-level athletes to healthy living, we ensure that everyone at the University can enjoy sport regardless of ability or interest. In the delivery of our University strategy we will continue to nurture the best higher education sporting ecosystem in the world a global influencer in sport.

Through world-leading coaching, outstanding student experiences, state-of-the-art facilities and superb events, we create an inclusive, positive and life-shaping sporting experience for all.

We have

A distinctive international reputation for excellence

The relevance of our research to real-life issues places us at the forefront internationally, increasing significantly the global visibility and reputation of the University.

A life-shaping student experience

We provide our students with an exceptional learning environment that offers outstanding, innovative teaching, opportunities to contribute to pioneering research, and options to maximise their business potential, coupled with wide-ranging personal support. 

Working in partnership with Loughborough Students’ Union, we offer the best possible all-round experience, providing our students with a wide range of opportunities that enable them to achieve their full potential, professionally and personally as well as academically.

Outstanding partnerships

We pursue the commercial potential of our research and forge productive, collaborative links with partners across all sectors. We work closely with local partners to enhance the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the communities and regions in which we reside, and endeavour to embed sustainability and social responsibility into everything we do.

One outstanding university: two vibrant campuses

Our distinctive ability to integrate research, teaching and enterprise has strengthened the activities in which we excel and created new capacity in areas of excellence. Our international ambitions are enhanced through a thriving postgraduate campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.