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About us
  1. Queen Mary University of London
  2. About us
  3. Facts and figures

Facts and figures

Queen Mary University of London is a leading research-intensive university with a difference – one that opens the doors of opportunity to anyone with the potential to succeed. It is a unique place of world-leading research and unparalleled diversity and inclusivity, that lives and breathes its history and heritage and is embedded in the communities it serves.

Key facts

  • Our history dates back to 1785, with the founding of The London Hospital Medical College, England’s first official medical school. 
  • We are a Russell Group university, operating across five campuses in London and at sites across Europe and Asia.
  • In the Times Higher Education rankings 2025 we sit within the top 10 per cent of global universities overall at 141, and in the top one per cent for research at 24th in the world for research.  For international outlook, we are 11th in the world.
  • Our annual income in 2022/23 was £666.3m (excluding capital grants), of which £133.8m was research income (excluding capital grants).
  • Queen Mary ranks at 120 in the 2025 QS World University Rankings, confirming its position as one of the world’s top universities.
  • We ranked 92nd in the world and 9th in the UK in the 2024-25 edition of the influential US News and World Report Best Global Universities rankings.
  • We are among the top 20 UK universities targeted by leading employers (The Graduate Market 2024 report).

Our community

  • We have over 32,000 students on degree programmes and over 5,700 members of staff.1
  • Our students are drawn from over 170 nationalities: approximately 41 per cent are from overseas.
  • Our profile from The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 stated: "Queen Mary continues its founding mission to improve lives through education. This Russell Group outlier in Tower Hamlets, east London, continues to do as well in our academic league (39th) as in our social inclusion table (41st). Since 1785, the university has grown from its roots in four historic colleges in the East End with a focus on social justice." 
  • Of our London domestic undergraduate students, more than 93 per cent are from state schools; 72 per cent are BAME, and 46 per cent are first into higher education.
  • In 2021, a Sutton Trust report named us as the best university for social mobility in the country.

Research and innovation profile

  • For the quality of its research, the University is ranked 24th in the world according to the THE World University Ranking 2024, and joint 7th in the UK according to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021).
  • We have a strong track record on research spin-outs and student start-ups – one Queen Mary spin-out, ApaTech, sold for $330m in 2010.
  • Our BioEnterprises Innovation Centre in Whitechapel supports drug discovery start-ups and has created over 500 science jobs.
  • In the 2025 Daily Mail Universty Guide, we were described as “the most socially inclusive of the research-intensive Russell Group universities by some distance”.
  • We have partnerships with major industrial firms such as Pfizer, IBM, and Huawei.

World-leading research

World-leading teaching

  • We offer over 240 degree programmes across three faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, and Medicine and Dentistry.
  • We were the first Russell Group institution to offer degree apprenticeship programmes. Our degree apprenticeship in social change, launched in 2019, is widely considered to be a world first.
  • We are home to the Blizard Institute, including the Centre of the Cell – the world’s first science education centre within working biomedical research laboratories – and the recently opened Neuron Pod, both of which are central to our public engagement work.
  • Our free, on-campus Student Health Service offers a full range of medical services, including immunisation and psychological counselling.
  • The Disability and Dyslexia Service offers support to all Queen Mary students with disabilities, specific learning differences and mental health conditions. Students can register with the service and seek advice as soon as they have applied, and throughout their time at Queen Mary.
  • Our Advice and Counselling Service offers comprehensive support to students experiencing financial, welfare and legal issues, including immigration advice for international students.
  • The Students’ Union’s Academic Advice Service offers advice and representation on a number of academic welfare issues, including applications for extenuating circumstances and appeals.
  • Queen Mary was rated Silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023.

A truly global university

  • Queen Mary’s presence in Paris, Malta and Singapore, and its ground-breaking transnational education programme in China, mean that our staff and students collaborate across the world.
  • Our Global Policy Institute connects Queen Mary researchers with overseas policymakers, industry and academics to ensure our research influences policy solutions worldwide.
  • We are ranked at number 7 in the world for international outlook – based on the proportion of international staff and students, citations and internationally co-authored papers (THE 2024).

Our work in the community

  • We were the first UK university to receive the Platinum Watermark from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement.
  • Our Students’ Union has led campaigns around local issues including housing, antisocial behaviour and road safety.
  • Our award-winning Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre, established in 2006, is staffed by volunteer law students who provide free, accessible advice to the public on a range of legal issues.
  • We sponsor two local Multi Academy Trust schools, which have both seen rapid improvement in pupil outcomes.

Skills, aspirations and social capital

  • Queen Mary's economic and social impact was analysed in a 2023 report, whose findings are a testament to our impact at a local and national level.
    • For every £1 Queen Mary spent in 2021, we generated £7 of economic benefit (higher than the Russell Group average).
    • We contribute a total economic impact of £4.4 billion to the UK economy and support 13,865 FTE jobs.
  • Through the University's recruitment agency, QTemps, students can find placements on or local to campus during or after their degree.
  • In 2019, our pioneering BSc in Business Management (Social Change) Degree Apprenticeship, which pairs students with leading charities, received more than 500 applications for 13 places.
  • Our research helped to underpin the national movement for the Real Living Wage campaign. We were the first university in the country to be Living Wage accredited.
  • We provide dedicated support for refugees, those who have been in local authority care and those who are estranged from their family or carer.

1 This figure is based on the number of staff who hold a current permanent contract with Queen Mary University of London. Please note, it does not include staff on temporary contracts or student ambassadors. This figure is subject to change and will be updated periodically.

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