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 18,410 students, it is the 57th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students (including the Open University).

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 (which were, before April 1989, run by Devon County Council) and Seale-Hayne College (which before April 1989 was an independent charity).

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.

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 (who then became vice-chancellor of the University of Bradford until 2013), and then by Steve Newstead. Wendy Purcell became VC on 1 December 2007. She was placed on leave on 2 July 2014 by the university's governors while an internal review was conducted. A month later 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 (2010–2013).

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.

In 2010, students from the university occupied a room in the main campus to protest against rising tuition fees and cuts to courses.

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. In 2024 the university began the demolition of the nearby Brunel Building, announcing that it would become a new park space and the building's facilities would be moved into Babbage .

In 2024, the University announced that Richard Davies would replace Judith Petts as Vice-Chancellor following her retirement.

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.

Completed 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.

The campus has over 20 buildings including the Roland Levinsky Building, the university's flagship arts, cultural and teaching facility which completed in 2007. It is located at the south of the university campus opposite the Drake Circus Shopping Centre.

InterCity Place is an 11-storey tower building adjacent to Plymouth railway station. The building is currently owned by Network Rail, but is being given to the university on a 150-year lease.

University-managed or approved accommodation in the first year of study is guaranteed for all applicants who choose Plymouth as their first choice institution. 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.

Francis Drake Hall of Residence is one of the on-campus university halls, owned by University Partnerships Programme (UPP) Limited. It has 314 en-suite rooms arranged in flats with between three and ten rooms, and 15 self-contained studio rooms, all spread across three blocks. The building's blocks are named after areas in the city - Armada, Barbican, and Citadel. As of 2023, the building has a rating of 3.6 stars on StudentCrowd. The building is named after Francis Drake, an English sailor and privateer best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580.

Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the owner and operator of the building, UPP Ltd. tested the cladding and found that it was safe to remain. However, the cladding was visually ageing and they decided to replace the cladding on the building as a precaution and to improve the building's appearance. In a report filed by UPP, they stated that they found defects in the cladding and replaced it. A pre-application document was submitted to Plymouth City Council's planning department on 18 June 2021, which was then followed by the submission a full planning application on 20 August 2021, which was approved. Work began at the start of the 2021/2022 academic year, with the main contractor being Kier Group. Scaffolding was erected and students remained living in halls that year, which led to complaints from students who were living in the hall during this time.

At 3pm on 24 April 2021, a fire broke out on the 6th floor of the building. One person was injured, suffering from smoke inhalation, and a 21-year-old woman was later arrested under for arson after an investigation to determine the cause of the fire was completed.

• 
  Francis Drake
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  Francis Drake Hall of Residence (Rear)
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  Mary Newman
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  Robbins
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  Radnor
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  Gibbon St (Left: Pilgrim, Right: Robbins)

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There are three faculties which each contain a number of schools:

This faculty contains the School of Art, Design and Architecture, Plymouth Business School, and the School of Society and Culture, including the Plymouth Institute of Education.

The faculty offers degrees in Anthropology, Architecture, Built environment, Business and Management, Criminology, Education, English, Game design, History, Illustration, Art history, 3D Design, Fine Art, Law, Marketing, Music, Photography, Professional Policing, Media arts, Sociology, and Theatre & Performance.

The Faculty of Health contains the Peninsula Dental School, Peninsula Medical School, School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Psychology, School of Health Professions, and School of Nursing and Midwifery. The Faculty runs degrees in Adult Nursing, Biomedical Sciences, Child Health Nursing, Dentistry, Medicine, Mental Health Nursing, Midwifery, Dietetics, Optometry, Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, Physiotherapy and Paramedicine.

Medicine and Dentistry were first established as part of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in 2000, which operated as a partnership between Plymouth University and the University of Exeter. In January 2012 the two founding members of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, outlined their plans to expand independently and grow the success of the now nationally recognised professional health education provider. These changes came into effect from the start of the 2013 academic year.

This faculty contains the School of Biological and Marine Sciences, the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, and the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Subjects taught in the Schools include Biological Sciences, Marine Biology, Marine Sciences, Chemistry, Geology, Geography, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Games Development, Mathematics, Data Science, Mechanical Engineering, Civil and coastal Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Robotics.

The arms, crest, badge and supporters forming the university's coat of arms were granted on 10 April 2008, in Grant 173/189, by the College 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.

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The Academic Partnerships network is a collaboration between the university and local colleges across the England and the world. Plymouth is the main sponsor of Marine Academy Plymouth. It is also the main sponsor of UTC Plymouth, which opened in September 2013.

Rankings

National rankings
Complete (2025)	65=
Guardian (2025)	84
Times / Sunday Times (2025)	70
Global rankings
ARWU (2024)	701–800
QS (2025)	661–670
THE (2025)	501–600

The University of Plymouth ranks 503rd in the CWUR World University Rankings 2017 In The Times and Sunday Times University League Table 2018, the University of Plymouth's world ranking was listed as joint 701st and 601–650 in QS World University Rankings 2019. Times Higher Education ranked Plymouth 401–500 in its World University Rankings 2017–18, and ranked it 65th among 200 institutions in its World Young University Rankings 2017.

The results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework showed that, overall, Plymouth was ranked joint 66 of 128 UK institutions, rising 9 places from the previous Research Assessment Exercise in 2008. Across all assessed subject areas Plymouth showed substantial evidence of 3* (internationally excellent) and 4* (world leading) research, and this was particularly evident in Clinical Medicine, Computer Sciences & Informatics, Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, and Earth Systems & Environmental Sciences, where 79–85% of research was ranked as 3* or 4*.

University of Plymouth Students' Union, usually abbreviated "UPSU" is a non-profit making organisation. Each year, students elect the officers who will represent them for the following year. The Union offers a range of services and stages a number of events throughout the year. As well as events, the Union is the base for most of the sports teams and societies at the university.

In 2014 a clash of personalities at the top of the university led the then vice-chancellor Wendy Purcell to be suspended. Part of the dispute was 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, which had suspended Purcell, 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.

• Armorial of UK universities
• Greenwich School of Management, Greenwich, south-east London
• List of universities in the UK
• Post-1992 universities
• Schumacher College

• Official website
• Plymouth University Students' Union – UPSU