As we come to the end of 2025, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the last year and all that we have achieved at the University of Roehampton. We celebrate and say thank you to our students, colleagues, alumni, partners, and our wider community.  

Here are just a few of the highlights from the last 12 months.

New Programmes and Facilities 

Exciting new programmes have included those in Allied Health and also in Science, Engineering, Technology and Computing (SETEC) under the new School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment. These programmes reflect our focus on providing our students with the cutting-edge skills that employers are asking for and that the UK needs. 

And we also celebrated the opening of SETEC’s new home, the Dorothy Buchanan Building, a state-of-the-art facility and a hub for innovation and collaboration.. 

Supporting Attainment, Innovation and Learning  

We successfully completed the pilot phase of one of the University’s most bold and inspiring academic transformation projects: the full redesign of all taught programmes, driven by the Supporting Attainment, Innovation and Learning initiative (SAIL).   Through SAIL, we will deliver a high-quality student experience and improve our outcomes to give our students the best chance of moving successfully through their study to positive destinations.

Apprenticeships 

We received a “Good” rating from Ofsted for our apprenticeship provision across all areas – the quality of education, learner experience and leadership and management. Congratulations to all involved in this achievement and in supporting local skills shortages through the development of exciting new apprenticeship programmes..  

Working in Partnership 

Partnership has continued to play an important role in our success. Through a new academic partnership with Embark College, we launched delivery of Business programmes at their brand new campus in Kathmandu, Nepal.

More locally, we were a founding partner in the BIG South London partnership, and the associated UK Shared Prosperity Funded collaboration with London South Bank University on the BIG Growth programme. The projects collectively supported over 1,000 South London businesses and organisations and the creation of over 800 new jobs. 

We continued our successful partnership with Wimbledon BookFest. It was great to see students and graduates with placements or employment as part of the festival, and Senior Lecturer, Dre Amy Waite, was chair of judges for the young writers competition. It was also fantastic to support and event with former New Zealand PM, Dame Jacinda Ardern, which was attended by 428 sixth form students. 

RKE Successes 

2025 has been another strong year of research and knowledge exchange at Roehampton. Our academics achieved significant recognition, with multiple projects securing national and international funding. Here are just two examples:

At the conclusion of the Gender Empowerment through Politics in Classrooms (G-EPIC) project, Professor Bryony Hoskins presented the findings at the House of Commons. G-EPIC brought together leading academics from across Europe to explore how classroom-based interventions can strengthen girls’ political self-confidence, particularly among those facing multiple forms of disadvantage.  

A new PhD programme addressing vital issues of inclusivity within the creative economy was created by Roehampton and the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Led by Professor Sara Houston, The Consortium for Researching Inclusive Cultures in the Arts (CRICA), won a prestigious AHRC Doctoral Focal Award of £2.5m. This important programme of work will help to dismantle barriers to allow disabled people to work and participate in the arts sector. 

Inclusion at the heart of what we do 

We were proud to see the conclusion of the I-CAN pilot programme. The first training course of its kind in the UK,  I-CAN was designed to support Care Experienced Young Adults to progress into formal health care training opportunities and jobs. I-CAN had significant engagement and reach, with over 80 students referred to the programme and a high proportion completing and moving on to successful destinations.

 

The Times Good University Guide ranked us 8th in England and the top university in London for social inclusion. At Roehampton, we don’t just talk about opportunity, we live it. We’re proud to be the university that opens doors, welcomes talent from every walk of life, and helps our students thrive.  

Celebrating our community 

Our students have, as always, been incredible this year! We are inspired by all they achieve and by the wonderful community that they create at Roehampton. We celebrated student leadership and entrepreneurship at the Roehampton Future Awards and welcomed back some of our incredible alumni for the Chancellor’s Alumni Awards. 

Around 4,000 students crossed the Royal Festival Hall stage at one of our graduation ceremonies. And we were delighted to confer honorary doctorates on some amazing people. Our September 2025 honoraries included legendary broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald and Olympic champion Fatima Whitbread. 

The Summer of 2025 was staff award season! Ceremonies were held involving all staff groups across our community and many colleagues were recognised for their contribution to the University. 

We were also thrilled to see both our Chair of Council and Vice-Chair recognised with CBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours list, a testament to their outstanding contributions to higher education and public service. Congratulation again to Phil Walker CBE and Professor Jane Longmore CBE, DL. 

Thank You 

To our students, colleagues, alumni, and partners—thank you for making 2025 a year to remember! As the year comes to an end, we look forward to building on these successes together.