The University of Kent welcomed its first 500 students to our Canterbury campus in 1965. Since then the University has grown in size, we now have more than 19,000 students and two campuses in the UK. They have also grown in stature, known for the quality of the teaching and research.
Kent is known for its teaching excellence, and for the interdisciplinary nature of its programmes and research. Here’s just a few options we offer our students:
Their UK campuses in Canterbury and Medway, are both within easy reach of London.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), our reputation was confirmed as a world-leading research university across the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. For you, this means joining a community that pushes boundaries, that is ambitious, innovative and intent on making a positive difference to people’s lives. Learn from leading thinkers whose work informs their teaching and who understand what it takes to produce world-leading research.
They also have doctoral training partnerships with several bodies, which give you access to a range of funding, including from the UK Research Councils.
Kent has an award-winning Careers and Employability Service. Alongside networking, skills and training, you’ll have access to Kent’s extensive careers support. One-to-one advice, workshops and resources from our Careers and Employability Service. International students will get specialist support and access to resources to help you find work anywhere in the world.
At Kent, they offer lots of support to make sure you get the most out of university life. Their Student Learning Advisory Service offers help with study, writing, and research skills. There are online resources which you can access any time or you can arrange a 1:1 appointment. Their wellbeing team can help if you have a disability or need support with emotional or mental health issues, there is also a free and confidential counselling service.
There are support teams in our schools and advice services run by our student unions.
The Canterbury campus houses over 4,300 students in rooms, flats and houses. Postgraduate students are offered self-catering accommodation at Woolf College - a new development offering en suite bedrooms in flats or studios. For those with shorter academic terms can apply for self-catered accommodation at Darwin Houses.
Rooms at Medway are all en suite and arranged in flats of five to eight people. They are managed by Unite Students, separate from the University, and shared with students from Canterbury Christ Church and Greenwich universities.
In general, there is good supply of off campus accommodation, we’re happy to advise students further on student accommodation off campus if needed.The two excellent libraries, the Templeman at Canterbury and the Drill Hall at Medway house extensive print and online collections. There’s hundreds of study spaces and zones for different types of study; you can get advice from librarians and IT support if you need it, it’s also possible to borrow a laptop. During Welcome Week there are induction sessions for new students, to utilise the library.
At Kent they offer support and training to help you develop your IT skills, you can even earn a qualification to add to your CV. They provide free antivirus protection for computers and laptops and offer a range of free and discounted software. It’s easy to work on or off campus by using the VPN network. Wi-Fi is available across our campuses and even on the campus buses.
The Medical Centre is a specialist GP practice on the Canterbury campus, providing care to students at the University. The University Nursing Service provides care for in-patients, a minor casualty service, and supports students in term-time. There is a pharmacy on campus.
The Medway students can register at the local practice in Gillingham.They have a wide range of sport and fitness facilities across the Sports Centre and The Pavilion on the University of Kent's Canterbury campus.
Located near the heart of the Canterbury campus, the Sports Centre services all users of the fitness suite, fitness and dance studio, sports halls and the Kent Sports Clinic. At the reception desk, you can sign up for a membership with Kent Sport.
They are a registered charity completely independent from the university, run by students for students. It’s our responsibility to support you during your time at university and make sure your voice is heard. In addition to lobbying and campaigning for student rights, we help facilitate 250+ student groups, a free on-campus advice service, employment opportunities through Jobshop and run The Venue, Woody’s, Library Cafe, Co-op and Kent Clothing.
Studyportals ranking look at the scores of the most used ranking systems and present you with one number of how well this University performs.
By TopUniversities
Dropped 18 places compared to 2026
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 380 | 397 | 415 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By U.S. News & World Report
Dropped 152 places compared to 2026
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 577 | 618 | 770 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By Times Higher Education
This university doesn’t have a ranking for 2027 yet. Rankings are updated yearly, so check back later for the latest info.
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 351 | 401 | - |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By Shanghai Jiao Tong University
This university doesn’t have a ranking for 2026 yet. Rankings are updated yearly, so check back later for the latest info.
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | 401 | - |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
Based on 65 reviews
Generally very good. The campus is very beautiful and loads to do nearby. Would definitely recommend it. All staff are very helpful and happy to help and teaching is really good. I definitely feel more equipped to go into the field of Psychology than other Universities.
I have loved my time at university so far and I have felt supported throughout! The lecturers that I have had have been amazing, they are always open to questions and will try to help in the best way that they can. Canterbury is an expensive city to live in and the student loans don't reflect this (we don't get extra loan because of living in Canterbury, but people who attend university in London get a higher amount of loan).
The University of Kent is a pretty solid university. Firstly the campus is big and beautiful. There are lots of trees and fields and it's nice to live somewhere filled with so much greenery as it helps my mental health. The town is really close by and the frequent bus services run smoothly. The teaching is pretty solid. In my experience every member of staff is open to help you above and beyond just dishing out lectures. Every academic I've been in contact with has been helpful, or at least pointed me in a direction that was useful. The campus has a big (free) gym with tennis courts, basket ball courts, badminton courts dance and fitness facilities. I regularly use these and have found the equipment reliable and sturdy. There are frequent (free) classes ranging from zoomba to yoga and it really adds to the student experience to be able to do things like this. I personally don't enjoy working in the library, but it is huge, clean, well stocked and an enjoyable place to be in. There's a cafe downstairs with the best coffee on campus and it's right next a co-op incase you need extra food. There are more than enough computers and desks for the students and it's nice being able to sit by the big windows and look down on the town and cathedral. Makes you feel like a main character studying as the sun sets. The student support services are also A+. I've used basically every support service they offer from mental health to employability services. They are so quick to get back to you, book you in and help you. There are free talks on a range of things every week that are really interesting to go to and have helped me increase my employability. The student wellbeing services have been especially vital to my time at university in helping me with my mental health and their excellent services were actually one of the main reasons I applied to Kent. I'm not the most social student there is, but the club on campus is super convenient as it's so close to your accommodation. There are so many active clubs and societies as well and it means whoever you are you can find someone like you. I've been somewhat let down by my course (Psychology) in that I feel like they could be giving us more opportunities to be hands on and practice, especially in the realm of essay writing. The course is honestly very interesting, I just felt it was a little easy and bland in certain aspects.
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