University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Yorkshire College. It became part of the federal Victoria University in 1887, joining Owens College (which became the University of Manchester) and University College Liverpool (which became the University of Liverpool). In 1904, a royal charter was granted to the University of Leeds by King Edward VII.

The university is a member of the Russell Group, a consortium of leading research-intensive universities in the United Kingdom, which includes institutions such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

Leeds is the tenth-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment and receives over 68,000 undergraduate applications per year, making it the fourth-most popular university (behind Manchester, University College London and King's College London) in the UK by volume of applications. Leeds had an income of £1.05 billion in 2023–24, of which £190.9 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £748.1 million. The university has financial endowments of £94.8 million (2024), placing it within the top twenty British universities by financial endowment.

Notable alumni include current prime minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, former Home and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, NASA astronaut Piers Sellers and six Nobel laureates.

The university's history is linked to the development of Leeds as an international centre for the textile industry and clothing manufacture in the United Kingdom during the Victorian era. The university's roots can be traced back to the formation of schools of medicine in English cities to serve the general public.

The Victoria University was established in Manchester in 1880 as a federal university in the North of England, instead of the government elevating Owens College to a university and grant it a royal charter. Owens College was the sole college of Victoria University from 1880 to 1884; in 1887 Yorkshire College was the third to join the university.

In 1831, the Leeds School of Medicine was established with the aim of serving the needs of the five medical institutions which had been established in the city. In 1874, the Yorkshire College of Science was created to provide education for the children of middle-class industrialists and merchants. Financial support from local industry was crucial in setting up the college and aiding the students. The university continues to recognise these elements of its history; for example, there is still a Clothworkers' Court on campus.

The College of Science, modelled on Owens College, Manchester, was established in 1851 as non-sectarian, and was open to Protestant Dissenters, Catholics and Jews (though not then to women) since Oxford and Cambridge restricted attendance to members only of the Church of England. University College London was non-sectarian.