University of Chester

The University of Chester is a public university located in Chester, England. The university originated as the first purpose-built teacher training college in the UK. As a university, it now occupies five campus sites in and around Chester, one in Warrington, and a University Centre in Shrewsbury. It offers a range of foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as undertaking academic research.

The university is a member of AACSB, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Cathedrals Group, the North West Universities Association and Universities UK. It holds an overall Silver Award in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

A 2021 article in Times Higher Education described the University of Chester as being the fifth-oldest higher education establishment in England, with only the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and London predating it. This claim appears to be based on the University of Chester’s antecedent (non-university) body, the Chester Diocesan Training College, founded in 1839; however, on this basis, many other English universities appear older. These include Newcastle University (1834); University of Manchester (1824), University of Westminster (1838); and the Universities of Bath, Bristol and the West of England, which can all trace their origins to the Merchant Venturers’ Technical College, founded as a school in 1595 by the Society of Merchant Venturers. Other universities that also have seemingly older origins include University of Central Lancashire (1828) and University of Huddersfield (1825).