It is a pleasure to introduce this year’s Annual Accounts.
Firstly, I would like to thank Pamela Chesters CBE, who has finished her second term as our Chair of Council having served the University with such dedication since April 2019. We are grateful for Pam’s clarity of thought, supportive and rigorous approach and generosity with her time for both Council business and the life of the wider University community. We wish Pam well for the future, and I would also like to take the opportunity to thank all members of our Council for their contributions and guidance during my first year in post.
A warm welcome to Sharon Flood, who became our new Chair of Council on 1 November 2025. As a graduate of the University of Bath, Sharon knows the institution well. We are very much looking forward to working with her and I know we will benefit from her extensive non-executive experience across the commercial, not for profit and public sectors and from her successful executive career and expertise in Finance and Strategy.
The University of Bath has had another strong year, which has involved careful navigation of the challenging financial environment for the Higher Education sector. Overall, we have continued to further enhance our excellence in education and student experience and to drive forward high impact research, attracting greater funding to help us achieve even more and maintaining a sound financial footing.
I’m pleased to see Bath maintain its strong domestic reputation, placed in the top 10 in all four UK university rankings and named Sport University of the Year 2026 by The Times and Sunday Times. In addition, our quality is being increasingly recognised internationally, and this year we have received our highest-ever placing in the QS World University Rankings since the introduction of their independent rankings in 2010. The University of Bath has been ranked 132nd by QS in 2026, rising 18 places from the previous year. This result places Bath firmly within the top ten per cent of universities ranked worldwide, reflecting our growing global reputation for research and education excellence. We intend to build on this trajectory to forge stronger global partnerships in the coming years and achieve more positive impacts.
Our students continue to enjoy an excellent experience and outstanding graduate outcomes.
In the 2025 National Student Survey, completed by 75% of final-year undergraduate students, the University of Bath outperformed sector benchmarks in six out of seven measured themes. Our scores also improved in six out of the seven themes compared to 2024, demonstrating our commitment to continual progression and innovation.
Our University continues to excel in graduate outcomes, thanks to our superb placement programmes, longstanding links with industry and strong career support. University of Bath graduates continue to enjoy some of the best employment prospects in the UK, according to the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). For the 2022-23 graduating cohort, 89% of Bath’s full-time UK-domiciled first-degree graduates in paid employment in the UK were in high-skilled roles 15 months after completing their studies. This figure exceeds the average of 72% for Universities UK (UUK) members, placing Bath 6th nationally among this group of institutions.
It has also been a successful year for our research, with awards increasing to £65m. We were delighted to be one of only 12 UK research-focused higher-education institutions to be awarded a £4.35m share of the UK Government’s Global Talent Fund, to help attract and support top international researchers to the UK. Our University was founded with a mission to work closely with industry, and partnership working has been in our DNA ever since. We are happy to play our part in attracting outstanding global academics to help power research in the UK’s industrial strategy priority areas.
This year has also seen an extensive programme of work on Research Culture, including the launch of The Researcher Academy to support our research staff throughout their postdoctoral journey. We build from firm foundations, as our postgraduate researchers are among the most satisfied in the UK, according to the last Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), with the University ranked ninth overall in the 2025 survey, and an overall satisfaction score of 87%.
The wellbeing of our whole community is a priority for us, which is why we were so pleased to be among the first 15 universities nationwide to receive the University Mental Health Charter (UMHC) Award at the start of the academic year. This award is granted to members of the UMHC Programme that demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement in the area of mental health and wellbeing for the entire University community. Throughout this year, we have fostered ever closer working relationships with the City and region, deepening our contribution to innovation, productivity and growth.
A report commissioned from Oxford Economics set out the economic and social value the University delivers, working in partnership with our city and region, by supporting jobs, attracting investment and generating wider opportunities. It found that the University of Bath contributed over half a billion pounds to the local economy in Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) in the 2023-24 academic year, and nearly £1 billion nationally. The activities of our University supported more than 7,000 jobs in B&NES and 13,000 across the UK. The analysis found that students moving to the local area to study at the University spent an estimated £230m across the local economy, approximately £11,400 each. Student spending supported more than 2,300 local jobs, with spending by international students supporting 880 of those jobs.
I’m delighted that we launched The Brunel Centre this year to power sustainable and inclusive growth for the West of England. This new university-business partnership led by Bath and UWE Bristol, along with Futures West and other partners, will support priority industrial strategy areas and prosperity in the West of England by carrying out and sharing pioneering economic research on the region. The partnership will create a virtual data observatory, provide consultation and engage with business and policy leaders.
From our strong foundations in education, research and innovation, to our partnerships at regional, national and global levels, we are starting to truly unlock our potential, and I look forward to working together to achieve even more over the coming year.
Professor Phil Taylor
Vice-Chancellor and President