Royal Holloway, University of London

Today's Royal Holloway is formed from two colleges, founded by two social pioneers, Elizabeth Jesser Reid and Thomas Holloway. They were among the first places in Britain where women could access higher education.

Bedford College, in London, opened its doors in 1849, and Royal Holloway College's stunning Founder's Building was unveiled by Queen Victoria in 1886 – it’s still the focal point of the campus.

In 1900, the colleges became part of the University of London and in 1985 they merged to form what is now known as Royal Holloway.

Our timeline

Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges combine over 150 years of historic discoveries, notable alumni and academic innovation. Our virtual timeline shows some of the milestones along the way.

Academic ranking

• Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 - we were ranked within the top 25% of universities in the UK for research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent'

UK league table rankings

• The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021 - we were ranked 22nd
• The Complete University Guide 2021 - we were ranked 24th
• The Guardian University Guide 2021 - we were ranked 32nd
• Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2020 - we were ranked in the top 300 universities in the world and 34th overall in the UK. In the category of ‘International Outlook’, we were ranked 21st in the UK.

Student satisfaction

• We scored 87% in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2020, higher than 20 of the 22 Russell Group universities which appear in the survey.

Student numbers

• We have a total of 10,593 students (at December 2019).
• Of these, 8,481 are from the UK or European Union, 2,086 are international (outside the EU) students and 26 are from the Channel Islands & I.O.M.
• We have 8,393 undergraduates, 1,497 postgraduate taught and 703 postgraduate research students.

    (Figures shown are full-time equivalent)

Staff numbers

• We have 1,772 established members of staff working at Royal Holloway across academic, administrative and support areas.
• In addition, we have visiting teachers, student interns and student staff who work across campus. (Dec 2019). Our staff widely represent countries across the world.

Alumni

• There are over 95,000 alumni of Bedford College, Royal Holloway College and Royal Holloway and Bedford New College worldwide.
• Notable alumni include novelist George Eliot, suffragette Emily Davison, the first woman doctor in the west Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, actor Mark Strong, EU Foreign Minister Baroness Cathy Ashton, broadcaster and scientist David Bellamy and Paralympic triple gold medallist Sophie Christiansen

Campus

• With our spectacular Founder’s Building and famous Picture Gallery, our campus is frequently named as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world
• It’s situated in 135 acres of parkland in Egham, Surrey.
• This is 19 miles from central London and seven miles from Heathrow Airport.
• We also have a central London base at Bedford Square in Bloomsbury.

Income and expenditure

See Financial Information for details of where our money comes from and how we spend it.

Our motto and coat of arms

• Our coat of arms celebrates the heritage of Bedford College, founded in 1849 by Elizabeth Jesser Reid and Royal Holloway College, founded in 1886 by Thomas Holloway
• The two colleges merged in 1985 to form who we are today - Royal Holloway, University of London
• Our motto  ‘Esse quam videri’ means 'to be rather than to seem'.