Pride in our past

The small community of students and staff who arrived in 1965 were our pioneers, shaping the University of Kent into the inclusive, international and inspiring community that it is today.

From a university started with some 500 students and 150 staff on a greenfield (and rather muddy) site, the University of Kent has grown today into an institution of over 19,000 students and over 3,000 staff. Consistent top 20 positions in major league tables and two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes reinforce its enviable reputation for the quality and distinctiveness of its academic activities and locations.  With campuses at Canterbury and Medway and centres in Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome, Kent is “the UK’s European university".

“The launching of the University reminds me in many ways of the launching of a ship: romance, high hopes and sound craftsmanship. She is to be the home and workplace of a company of men and women of varying views and skills, bonded together for a chain of voyages into the seas of knowledge.”