University of Bradford

The University of Bradford officially became a university in 1966, but can trace its origins back to the establishment of the industrial West Yorkshire town’s Mechanics Institute in 1832.

Students from some 150 countries study at the university, and about a third of its undergraduates are mature students.

The University of Bradford was the first higher education institution in the UK to open a modern business school and the first outside London to offer part-time degrees.

It was also the first British university to open a Department of Peace Studies, in 1973, and Bradford now boasts the largest higher education centre for the study of conflict resolution and peace in the world.

The institution’s first chancellor Harold WIlson, a former UK prime minister, said of the university: "You can be confident of your university developing in the future with the same dynamism as has been shown in the past – educating men and women who receive education and training relevant to the needs of our changing society."

To this day, the University of Bradford aims to develop courses and curricula that reflect the requirements of the modern world. It has partner institutions in countries across the world, including the Philippines, India, Tanzania and Hong Kong.

The university is undergoing an £84 million redevelopment programme, which will include a new dedicated student area to be known as Student Central, featuring study spaces, bars and other social areas.

Former Bradford students include mobile telecommunications entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim; poet John Hegley; and former UK government minister Ann Taylor.