University of Plymouth
The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students.
History
1862 – 2000
The university was originally founded as the Plymouth School of Navigation in 1862, before becoming a university college in 1920 and a polytechnic institute in 1970, with its constituent bodies being Plymouth Polytechnic, Rolle College in Exmouth, the Exeter College of Art and Design and Seale-Hayne College. It was renamed Polytechnic South West in 1989, a move that was unpopular with students as the name lacked identity. It was the only polytechnic to be renamed and remained as "PSW" until gaining university status in 1992 along with the other polytechnics. The new university absorbed the Plymouth School of Maritime Studies.2000 – 2020
In 2006, part of the remains of the World War II Portland Square air-raid shelter were rediscovered on the Plymouth campus. On the night of 22 April 1941, during the Blitz, a bomb fell on the site killing over 70 civilians, including a mother and her six children. The bomb blast was so strong that human remains were found in the tops of trees. Only three people escaped alive, all children.The university's first vice-chancellor was John Bull. He was succeeded by Roland Levinsky until his death on 1 January 2007, when he walked into live electrical cables brought down during a storm. He was temporarily replaced by Mark Cleary, and then by Steve Newstead.
Wendy Purcell became vice-chancellor on 1 December 2007, however she was later suspended in on 2 July 2014 whilst an internal review was conducted. The suspension was in part due to a dispute over the commissioning of ceremonial chairs at a cost of £95,000 without the board's approval. A linked case saw the chair of the board of governors William Taylor investigated of sexual harassment of female staff. Purcell was later appointed to a newly created role of president with compensation of £125,000 for loss of office and maintaining her salary of £250,000. A month after the review was concluded, the Higher Education Funding Council for England requested an independent external review of the university's governance. In August 2014, the university was instructed by HEFCE to undertake an external review of its governance after vice-chancellor Wendy Purcell was placed on leave.
Judith Petts CBE was appointed the University of Plymouth's vice-chancellor and chief executive in February 2016. She joined Plymouth from the University of Southampton, where she had been pro-vice-chancellor research and enterprise and previously the inaugural dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences.
The university was selected by the Royal Statistical Society in October 2008 to be the home of its Centre for Statistical Education. It also runs courses in maritime business, marine engineering, marine biology, and Earth, ocean and environmental sciences.
2020 – present
In 2021 work began to completely renovate the interior and exterior of the Babbage Building. The renovations will add an extra 10,000m² worth of space to the building, and create rooftop gardens which will be open to students. Renovation works also began on the InterCity Place tower down by the Plymouth railway station.The university has plans to tear down the Brunel Building which currently sits opposite Babbage and turn it into an urban park, but no timeline has been released yet.
Richard Davies was appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth in October 2024 following Judith Petts's retirement. In his first official message to the university, Davies said that he would "put students first" and that he is "optimistic about the future".
In May 2025, the university announced that it had a £22 million budget shortfall shortly after announcing that over 200 jobs were risk across the organisation, and that some courses were being reviewed. Students in the affected School of Arts, Humanities, and Business started a petition against the cuts which received almost 2000 signatures. In December 2025, the university announced it had cut 351 jobs.
In December 2025, a nitric acid spill originating in the university's Davy Building labs resulted a portion of the city centre campus being evacuated. Around 20 emergency vehicles attended the incident, and whilst the university claimed that nobody was injured, four people were treated by paramedics.
Campus
When university status was gained in 1992, the university was based in on multiple sites. Under Vice-Chancellor Levinsky the university began a policy of centralising its campus activities in Plymouth.The Exmouth campus Rolle College housed the Faculty of Education and relocated to the new Rolle Building in August 2008. The decision was unpopular with students and the town of Exmouth itself. There were several protest marches and a campaign to keep the campus open.
Recent developments include Portland Square, a library extension, refurbished and new laboratory and teaching facilities in many of the campus buildings, halls of residence near the Business School and a new £16 million Peninsula Medical School headquarters at Derriford Hospital, in the north of the city. A Marine Building has been constructed behind the Babbage Building to house civil engineering, coastal engineering and marine sciences.
Roland Levinsky building
The Roland Levinsky Building, designed by architects Henning Larsen with Building Design Partnership, is clad with copper sheets in a seamed-cladding technique, is nine storeys high and has of floor space. The Faculty of Arts, previously based in Exmouth and Exeter moved here in August 2007. The building contains two large lecture theatres, the Jill Craigie Cinema, used by the film students to display their films and for showing of films to the public; three performance rehearsal studios; digital media suites; and a public art gallery which displays work by local artists groups, students and famous artists.Intercity Place
Intercity Place is an 11-story tower building adjacent to Plymouth railway station currently undergoing renovations to turn the building into a centre for students studying medical degrees. The tower is being renovated by contractor Kier Group and is set to open in 2023. The building used to be the Intercity House office block. The building is currently owned by Network Rail, but is being given to the university on a 150-year lease. The renovated building will provide a brand new space to train and develop the next generation of nurses, midwives and allied health professionals from the School of Health Professions and School of Nursing and Midwifery.Babbage Building
The Babbage Building, also known as the New Engineering and Design Facility, is a teaching building named after Charles Babbage, a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. After renovations in 2021–2023, the building contains a number of fabrication and computing laboratories.Student accommodation
University-managed or approved accommodation in the first year of study is guaranteed for all applicants who choose Plymouth as their first choice institution. The university provides an approved accommodation database, which is available to all continuing students. There are six university-managed halls: Francis Drake, Gilwell, Mary Newman, Pilgrim, Radnor and Robbins. Special accommodation arrangements can be made for students with disabilities or medical conditions.Organisation and administration
Faculties
There are three faculties which each contain a number of schools:- Arts, Humanities and Business
- Health
- Science and Engineering
Coat of arms
The books represent the university's focus on learning and scholarship. The scattering of small stars, represent navigation, which has played a key role in the history of the city and the university. The scallop shells in gold, represents pilgrimage, a sign of the importance of the departure of the Pilgrim Fathers from a site near the Mayflower Steps in the Plymouth Barbican aboard the Mayflower in 1620. A Pelican and a Golden Hind support the shield and reflect both the original and later, better known, name of Sir Francis Drake's ship. The crest contains the Latin motto, "Indagate Fingite Invenite" which translates as "Explore Dream Discover" and is a quote from Mark Twain, reflecting the university's ambitions for its students and Plymouth's history of great seafarers.
The Letters Patent granting Arms to the University of Plymouth were presented by Eric Dancer, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, in a ceremony on 27 November 2008, in the presence of Henry Paston-Bedingfeld, York Herald of the College of Arms, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Plymouth, Judge William Taylor, the Recorder of Plymouth, and Baroness Judith Wilcox.
The Coat of Arms are rarely seen in use, other than at graduation. The university uses the "with Plymouth University" brand on stationery and signs and keeps the Coat of Arms exclusive. The use of the arms is therefore restricted to graduations and other formal ceremonies, degree certificates and associated materials and the exclusive use by the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.