Home / Royal Holloway University
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.
The Next Intake Session Begins In September 2023.
Facts and Figures
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 2020 – we were ranked 19th.
– The Complete University Guide 2019 – we were ranked 23rd.
– The Guardian University Guide 2018 – we were ranked 40th.
– 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.
Alumni
– There are over 74,000 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