Overview

We are Essex: home to the daring and the tenacious, a place for the ambitious and the bold. We’re a close-knit, supportive and welcoming community, with a powerful and pioneering global outlook. In 2018, Times Higher Education voted us 'University of the Year'.

With over 15,500 students from more than 147 different countries, making us one of the most internationally diverse universities on the planet – you’ll find the world in one place here at Essex. Our trailblazing research also continues to change the world for the better and we are ranked 25th in the UK for research quality (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021).

At Essex you’re taught by world-leading academics in a supportive and research-intensive environment. We are ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework which means we deliver an excellent educational experience. We’re loved by our students too; Essex is top 15 in England for overall student satisfaction (NSS 2019, mainstream universities*).

Whether you study in the beautiful historic parkland of our Colchester Campus, the bustling lively town centre of Southend-on-Sea, or in our stately home at Loughton, this is your chance to become a member of the one of the happiest groups of students around. The flexibility of our courses gives you the power to pursue the things that matter to you. Now’s your chance to join Nobel Prize-winners, award-winning directors, presidents, well-loved actors, astronauts, and over 75,000 other alumni who have gone on to shape the world and share their Essex spirit.

Up for a challenge and want to make an impact on the world around you?

Welcome home.

Services for International Students

Student support can provide assistance on a wide range of issues, such as visas, accommodation and employment while at the University of Essex. A welcome week is run before the beginning of term, including pre-arrival information and orientation and events at the University itself. An airport service is also run from Heathrow and Gatwick to the Colchester campus at the beginning of each academic year.

Ranking

• 40th in the Times University Guide 2021
• 85th in the Guardian University Guide 2021
• 411th in the QS World University Rankings 2021

Accommodation

University of Essex-owned accommodation is guaranteed for all international students for the duration of study and consists of flats of up to 16 students with a shared kitchen, with a little over half the rooms available as en suite. University of Essex is one of the few universities in the UK to be awarded the International Accommodation Quality Mark, with 90 per cent satisfaction amongst international students living on University of Essex based accommodation. In the National Student Housing Survey, it finished runner up in 2010 and 2011, and won the award in 2009.

Location

The University of Essex’s largest campus is based in beautiful parkland at Colchester, the UK’s oldest recorded town. The University of Essex has a further state-of-the-art campus at Southend, one the UK’s safest towns. All three campuses are less than one hour from London and the port of Harwich is also nearby.

The Southend campus is accessed from the High Street in a new multi-million pound campus. The Loughton campus is a five-minute walk from the nearest London Underground station, Debden, at the east end of the Central Line, 35 minutes from Liverpool Street station.

Alumni

• Óscar Arias (President of Costa Rica, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate)
• Daniel Libeskind (Architect)
• John Bercow (Speaker of the House of Commons)
• Christopher A. Pissarides (Nobel Prize winning economist)