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Facts and figures

Cardiff University is a member of the Russell Group, a group of 24 leading UK research intensive universities.

We are the 16th largest university in the UK in terms of student numbers with a total estimated income for 2020/21 of £605m.

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 90% of our research was confirmed as world-leading or internationally excellent making us a top 20 university in the UK for the overall quality of our research.

  • 33,985 students
  • £113M in research contracts
  • 72% student satisfaction

Our students

We have 33,985 students enrolled, representing over 138 countries in 2021/2022.

  • 23,765 undergraduates
  • 10,220 postgraduates (1,615 Postgraduate Research, 7,320 Postgraduate Taught)
  • 7,530 international students (non-UK EU included)
  • 72% overall satisfaction in National Student Survey 2023
  • 1,000 students volunteer in the local community each year.

Student number confirmed by Higher Education Student Statistics (HESA), 2021/22.

Our graduates

Our graduates are sought-after by employers - more so than most other major UK universities.

  • we are ranked the 12th best UK university for employability in the 2023/24 Times Higher Education Global University Employability Ranking.
  • 95% of our graduates were in employment and/or further study, due to start a new job or course, or doing other activities, such as travelling*.
  • 205,000 alumni in 202 countries.

*Graduate Outcomes 2020/21 survey results published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA open data is published under the (CC BY 4.0) licence.

Our research

We have a world-leading research community with a strong and broad research base:

  • we are a top 20 university in the UK for the overall quality of our research (19th) impact (11th) and environment (16th) REF 2021
  • we are 14th in the UK for Research Power which demonstrates the scale and quality of our research REF 2021
  • our research grants and contracts awarded in 2019/20 have exceeded £150m
  • we have won seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes
  • an independent survey has ranked us as 3rd in the UK for spinout success for two years in succession, measuring the ability to convert research into high-value companies (Octopus Ventures, 2019, 2020)
  • we are 5th in the UK for the total number of intellectual property licence numbers for SMEs in 2019/20
  • we are 12th in the UK for the total number of new patent applications filed in 2019/20
  • we are 16th in the UK for total intellectual property income in 2019/20
  • we are 17th in the UK for estimated turnover (£21.3m) of all active graduate start-ups in 2018/19
  • our researchers include two Nobel Prize winners - Professor Sir Martin Evans and Professor Robert Huber
Contains HESA Data: Copyright Jisc 2023. Jisc cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived by third parties from its data.