Founded in 1828, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is the international, multi-campus university leading the way in modern learning. Today the university is one of the UK’s largest, offering an employment-focused course portfolio of over 300 undergraduate programmes and 200+ postgraduate courses.

The university’s main campus is based in Preston, with others located in Burnley (East Lancashire), Westlakes (West Cumbria), and Cyprus. They have recently invested £200m in transforming their Preston Campus, giving students access to excellent teaching facilities in bright, modern surroundings.

Internationally, the university enrols students from more than 100 countries and have partnerships with over 120 institutions from across the globe.

The University has close links with more than 1,000 regional employers and enterprises, covering a multitude of industries, giving students extensive opportunities to gain practical work experience through long-term work placements, short-term internships and study abroad programmes.

UCLan is also ranked as the leading UK university for entrepreneurship, based on the number of start-up businesses they have incubated that are still active after three years of trading, according to the latest HEBCIS 2016-17 survey. The University has been named the top university in the North of England for producing start-up businesses, and is ranked fifth overall in the UK (Tide, 2021). The University’s Propeller enterprise hub offers business start-up support to students and graduates, including skills and knowledge workshops, networking opportunities, and a business incubation space.