Exeter University traces its origins to a number of schools and colleges established in the middle of the nineteenth century by individual educational reformers and philanthropists throughout Devon and Cornwall. These in turn became the University College of the South West of England in 1922. In 1955, the College received its Charter as the University of Exeter. Today Exeter is a top 20 UK university and enjoys an excellent academic reputation. It has one of the highest National Student Survey rankings in the country and has maintained its top 10 position for four years running. In 2008, the University came 4th in the UK amongst full service universities, just behind Cambridge.

The University comprises 3 main sites of study - Streatham Campus, St Luke's Campus (Exeter) and Cornwall Campus.   The University's academic departments and research centres are arranged into Schools, some of which cover a single discipline, for example Biosciences, and some of which cover several inter-related disciplines, for example Arts, Languages and Literatures. Each School has its own website accessible from the university website (see our link). The Schools are made up of subject departments, and also contain a variety of related research centres.

The University of Exeter is committed to ensuring that its research students are given full and rounded training – whether they wish to carry on into an academic career or transfer their skills into the commercial or public sector.To that end the University provides a broad ranging Effective Researcher Development Programme available as part of the research degree. The programme offers an extensive choice of training and development events exclusively designed for our PhD students. Sessions range from project management to presenting conference papers, and rapid reading of research material to writing up your thesis. This course is designed to compliment the training which students receive through close work with a project supervisor.Exeter offers a variety of full-time English language courses throughout the year for both students and teachers of English.

Exeter is consistently rated as one of the best places to live in the UK, with a high quality of life and a low crime rate. The city has something for everyone, whether your tastes are for exploring the city or enjoying the countryside.  With a population of about 110,000, Exeter is a student-friendly city which happily combines modern life with a sense of the past. Cafés, restaurants, pubs and modern shops mix easily with historic buildings, including the Cathedral, consecrated in 1133 and rebuilt in the late medieval period, the Guildhall which is the oldest civic working building in the country, Mol’s Coffee House and the Ship Inn, both favourite haunts of Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh.