Our story starts in 1858, when the art critic, patron and philanthropist John Ruskin opened Cambridge School of Art. The art school grew to become Anglia Ruskin University, shortened to ARU, and it’s still at the heart of our modern-day campus in Cambridge. Over the years, a number of colleges and institutes have become part of ARU. They include the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (CCAT) and the Essex Institute of Higher Education (formerly the Chelmer Institute – itself formed from the Mid-Essex Technical College and the Brentwood College of Education). At first, these colleges combined to become Anglia Polytechnic, and then Anglia Polytechnic University in 1992. As well as Cambridge, we have campuses in Chelmsford, London and Peterborough, where our newest campus, ARU Peterborough, a brand new university for the city, will open its doors in September 2022. Our Chelmsford campus was originally in the city centre but moved to a new, purpose-built site in 1992. Today, you’ll find our striking, modern buildings nestled by the river in the city’s University and Innovation Quarter. Our campus at Guild House, Peterborough opened in 2011 as a dedicated health, social care and education site where we train many of our region’s nurses and social workers, and these courses will continue to run alongside a number of new courses at ARU Peterborough. In 2015 we were pleased to introduce a new campus in the heart of London, where students study subjects including business, law and finance at undergraduate and postgraduate level. We’ve invested over £115 million in our campuses in recent years. Cambridge benefitted from a major redevelopment in 2011, and in 2014 we completed work on our dedicated healthcare site on Young Street. It houses state-of-the-art clinical skills labs including mock hospital wards. Young Street is also home to our specialist Music Therapy Centre. In 2018, we opened a brand new Science Centre and a Law Clinic.Meanwhile, in Chelmsford we’ve embarked upon an ambitious programme of development. In 1995, Her Majesty The Queen opened the fittingly named Queen’s building, which is home to the University Library. It’s since been joined by (among others) our eye-catching Lord Ashcroft building; Sawyers Building with its SuperLabs; the Michael Salmon Building, which houses cutting-edge medical simulation suites; and Arise Chelmsford, which offers labs, workshops and office space to small businesses in the medical and advanced engineering sectors. The most recent major development is our School of Medicine, which opened in September 2018, and is training the region's future doctors in a purpose-built space featuring state-of-the-art skills facilities. As well as our four main campuses, we have a number of partner institutions in the UK and overseas, giving you the chance to study for an ARU qualification near to home. The first partnerships were formed in the early 1990s. Our International Office, set up in 1992, fosters further links, and makes sure that our international students receive the support and information they need.Our vision: Transforming lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research.Anglia Ruskin has 39,400 students worldwide with campuses in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Peterborough and London. It shares further campuses with the College of West Anglia in King's Lynn, Wisbech and Cambridge and has partnerships with universities around the world including Berlin, Budapest, Trinidad, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. There are four faculties of study at the university: Faculty of Business and Law, Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care and Faculty of Science & Engineering. The university's Lord Ashcroft International Business School (LAIBS) in Cambridge and Chelmsford is one of the largest business schools in the East of England. In 2019, the School of Medicine was formally opened at its Chelmsford campus by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. It was awarded Entrepreneurial University of the Year in the 2014 Times Higher Education Awards. It won the Duke of York Award for University Entrepreneurship at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards 2016.Anglia Ruskin's Cambridge Campus is home to one of only 9 optometry schools in the UK, having its own optometry clinic. Hallway through Helmore toward Mumford Library. The university reception as well as the bookshop and the utility shop are situated by this hallway. The Cambridge campus has recently been redeveloped, which began with the refurbishment of Helmore, the main building on East Road, completed in 2006. In 2009, one of the University's largest buildings, Rackham, in the centre of the campus, was demolished to make way for the new Lord Ashcroft International Business School. The Mumford Theatre, which presents a range of professional touring, local community and student theatre for both the public and members of the University, is housed at the centre of the campus. From 2015, a new building at Young Street hosted the health courses, like nursing, midwifery, paramedic, ODP etc.The Chelmsford campus houses the Queen's Building (opened in 1995) and the Sawyer's Building (opened in 2001). The Michael A Ashcroft Building opened in 2003 (renamed the Lord Ashcroft Building); the Mildmay Sports Centre, and the Tindal Building, in 2005; the William Harvey Building in 2007; The Faculty Building (renamed The Marconi Building in 2011) in 2008; and the Postgraduate Medical Institute building – named as Michael Salmon Building in 2017 -, opened 2011. In May 2017, the work has started on the building of Essex's first School of Medicine.The 12 subject areas within Anglia Ruskin classified by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 as producing "world-leading" research are: Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy; Architecture, Built Environment and Planning; Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory; Business and Management Studies; Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management; English Language and Literature; Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology; History; Law; Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts; Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Social Work and Social Policy.An investigation performed at the end of 2007 by the QAA reveal that as a result of its investigations, the audit team's view of Anglia Ruskin University is that "confidence can reasonably be placed in the soundness of the institution's present and likely future management of the academic standards of the awards that it offers and the quality of the learning opportunities available to students". However, an external inspection of Initial Teacher Education revealed inadequacies in 2010. The areas highlighted were the effectiveness of the provision in securing high quality outcomes for trainees, and the extent to which the training and assessment ensures that all trainees progress to fulfill their potential given their ability and starting points. It was only the Primary ITE that was found to be inadequate in the inspection, the Secondary and FE ITE were awarded a mark of satisfactory. Since this inspection, the Primary ITE has been awarded 'satisfactory' grades by Ofsted in May 2011 and 'good' in 2012.
In the pursuit of our vision to help the students find the right courses and institutions based on their learning inclination and caliber. Dive right in to know more about the institutions that are best suited for you, all at one place.
Watch the videos to learn about the student life-cycle and the teaching environment at the University.
National REF 2021 assessment reviews quality and impact of university research
Read more →Anglia Ruskin University’s continued commitment to the career development of researchers has been recognised by retaining its Human Resources Excellence in Research Award for the eighth year.
Read more →Anglia Ruskin University claims its MA Education with Montessori course is the first masters programme of its kind to focus on the Montessori method of education in the UK.
Read more →A research and development centre for social sciences will be established by Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
Read more →