De Montfort University

De Montfort University began in 1870 as the Leicester School of Art, holding its first classes in March that year in a former warehouse, with 269 students in its first year. It became the Leicester Municipal Technical and Art Schools, then Leicester Polytechnic in 1969, and gained university status in 1992. It is named after Simon de Montfort, who established the first parliament in 1265. Today DMU has around 26,000 students and 2,600 staff, and its Leicester campus has been its home since 1897, centred on the Hawthorn Building at The Newarke, next to Leicester Castle. The university is the United Nations-designated Global Hub for Sustainable Development Goal 16, the only university in the UK to hold that role. DMU's campus is in the centre of Leicester, a diverse, historic city in the East Midlands. Teaching buildings, the library, the Students' Union and halls are all close together, and the city's shops, markets, restaurants and cultural attractions are within walking distance.