University of Bedfordshire

The University of Bedfordshire is a public research university located in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, with a history in further and higher education dating back to 1882. It originally gained university status in 1993 as the University of Luton and adopted its current name in 2006 following a merger with the Bedford campus of De Montfort University. Today, the university operates across five main campuses: Bedford and Luton in Bedfordshire, Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire for Nursing and Midwifery students, and Milton Keynes, alongside activity in London and Birmingham and a wide range of international partnerships across regions including the Caribbean, Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia. The university entered the Research Assessment Exercise in 2014 and achieved a significant improvement in research rankings, with a substantial proportion of its research rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. It is also recognised for its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, having achieved Fairtrade status in 2012, ranked highly in the People and Planet University Green League, and received the EcoCampus Platinum award in 2020. The University of Bedfordshire has a diverse student population of around 20,000 students from more than 100 countries and works with approximately 40 academic partners to deliver programmes from foundation level through to doctoral study. It is particularly noted for widening participation, with a high proportion of students from non-traditional educational backgrounds, mature learners, and students from black and minority ethnic communities. Leadership of the university has included Vice-Chancellor Rebecca Bunting, appointed in 2020, who announced her retirement in December 2025, while the current Chancellor is Sarfraz Manzoor, appointed in 2023. Through its evolution from teacher training colleges and technical institutes to a modern university, the University of Bedfordshire has developed a strong reputation for inclusivity, applied research, and global engagement.