About us
The University of Cambridge is one of the world’s oldest and most successful Universities, with an outstanding reputation for academic achievement and research. It is consistently ranked among the foremost Universities in the world. The University comprises more than 150 departments, faculties, schools and other Institutions, plus a central administration and 31 independent and autonomous Colleges.
The University’s sustained pursuit of academic excellence is built on a long history of first-class teaching and research within a distinct collegiate system. Its principal goal is to remain one of the world’s leading Universities in an increasingly competitive and global higher education sector. Today, the university is at the centre of a cluster of over 4,300 businesses employing 58,000 people.
The University has an annual income of £2 billion. Research income, won competitively from the UK Research Councils, the European Union (EU), major charities and industry, exceeds £500 million per annum and continues to grow.
The Colleges and the University remain committed to admitting the best students regardless of their background and to investing considerable resources both in widening access and financial support. The 31 Colleges are self-governing, separate legal entities which appoint their own staff. Many academic staff are invited to join a College as a Teaching Fellow, which provides a further social and intellectual dimension. The Colleges admit students, provide student accommodation and deliver small group teaching.
The University awards degrees and its faculties and departments provide lectures and seminars for students and determine the syllabi for teaching and conducting research.
The University is deeply embedded in, and committed to serving, the local community. A new residential development in north-west Cambridge, Eddington, is being built on former farming land and is designed to provide highly sustainable affordable living for the 21st century. This exciting programme is now progressing to the next phase of development, which is likely to commence in 2021, and, under current plans, will ultimately comprise 3,000 dwellings, 2,000 student bed spaces, shops, a school and nursery, a community centre and performing arts venue, a hotel, an energy centre and 100,000sqm of commercial and academic buildings.
Our mission is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Our core values are:
- freedom of thought and expression; and
- freedom from discrimination.
