University of Essex

Home to the curious, brave and bold

We’re a university where curiosity prevails and where exploring new ways of thinking and pushing boundaries, isn’t just encouraged, it’s expected. 

We are determined to do things differently and put student success at the center of everything we do.

We're committed to two things: excellence in teaching and excellence in research. We put student success at the heart of our mission, supporting every student from every background to achieve outstanding outcomes, preparing our students to thrive in their future lives.

Our determination to make a difference in society means we’re ranked in the top 200 of the global Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025, which reviewed more than 2,500 universities around the world.

Making an impact through our research is at the heart of our university. We're in the UK top 10 for research quality in four subjects (Grade Point Average, REF2021) and in the UK top 10 for research power in five subjects (Times Higher Education 2022). Find out more about our REF2021 performance.

We are open about our aims and how we want to achieve them. Our strategy sets out our ambitions for 2028. On these pages you'll find more on our plans, our finance, our senior team and how we work.