The University of Buckingham is a unique UK institution, known for its two-year undergraduate programs, small class sizes, and focus on personalized learning. It's the only independent university in the UK with a Royal Charter. The university emphasizes career-focused courses and is recognized for its teaching quality and student satisfaction.
| Motto / Slogan | Flying on Our Own Wings |
| Colour | Charcoal and gold |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Departments | 19 |
| Location | Buckingham, England, United Kingdom |
| Address | The University of Buckingham Vinson Building (Main reception) Hunter Street Buckingham MK18 1EG United Kingdom |
The University of Buckingham's mission is to provide a distinctive and distinguished educational experience for all students, enabling them to flourish as individuals and achieve success.
The University of Buckingham's vision is to be a world-leading university recognized for its academic excellence and as a beacon for independence, providing a distinctive and distinguished educational experience for all students.
The University of Buckingham's primary objective is to provide a distinctive and distinguished educational experience for all students, empowering them to flourish as individuals and achieve success.
We believe in a high-quality education delivered with passion and focus on imparting useful and relevant knowledge. We also offer students the opportunity to study a degree their way, giving a range of options on how to study, and September and January start dates for almost all of our courses.
The University of Buckingham is ranked Top 10, Graduate Prospects (outcomes), South-East England, The Complete University Guide, 2026. At Buckingham, you’ll be taught by experts who are internationally recognized as pioneers in their field – so you’ll graduate with the latest industry knowledge.
We also offer the option of two-year degrees, a condensed version of the traditional three-year degree, meaning you can gain a full honors degree, but graduate a whole year earlier. Alternatively, you can complete both your undergraduate and master’s degree with us in just three years, saving you time and money.
Our dedication to teaching quality and student life has resulted in us being rated highly by our students and in national surveys. We are proud that We are proud that The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 ranked us as a Top 10 University in South-East England. Nothing is more important to us than happy students.
View the ‘Entry requirements’ section on individual undergraduate course pages to see course-specific entry requirements.
Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A Levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in slightly lower A Level grades being required.
International Students:
We have a number of entry requirements for our international applicants.
In order to process your application we need your most recent academic transcripts or results, and one reference from your current or last school/college (two if you are applying for postgraduate study).
Your reference should be written by somebody who has taught you, demonstrating your ability as a student and your suitability for university study. If it is more than 5 years since you left full-time education it may be written by your employer. It should then be posted, or scanned and emailed to the Admissions Office where we will process it as part of your application.
View the ‘Entry requirements’ section on individual postgraduate course pages to see course-specific entry requirements.
International Students
We have a number of entry requirements for our international applicants.
Before you complete the application make sure you have the following:
You will also be required to upload copies of:
If you don’t have these at the time you can always send them to us by email once you have them.
UNDERGRADUATE:
We welcome applications to our undergraduate courses in two different ways – through UCAS or directly via our online application form.
If you’re interested in transferring to Buckingham from another university, then please get in touch using the form below and someone from our Admissions team will be in contact to talk through your options. To register with the University you must have attained eighteen years of age at the point of registration, except where the Dean has granted to a named student an exemption from this condition.
Already started your application to Buckingham? Log in to continue your application.
Apply via UCAS
You can make Buckingham one of your choices on UCAS. The UCAS platform enables you to apply to up to five universities or courses in the one place. Our UCAS code is B90.
You can find out more about how to apply via UCAS here, along with the key UCAS application deadlines
If you apply through UCAS, they will send you a notification via an email alert once an offer has been made.
To accept your offer via UCAS, you need to go to UCAS Hub to make your replies.
Deadlines will be visible in UCAS Hub.
Apply to us directly
Alternatively, you can apply directly through our website by clicking the ‘apply now’ button on the course page.
There’s no fee, and you can apply at any time during the year. Ideally you should apply by the following dates:
POSTGRADUATE:
If you are interested in postgraduate study, you can apply directly through our website. There’s no fee, and you can apply at any time during the year.
Email: [email protected]
Phone : +44 (0)1280 820227
The Centre has been directed since its inception by Professor Alan Smithers and one of its first members was Dr Pamela Robinson who is now Deputy Director. At one time they acted as research managers to a large team of researchers and research students. But it was found that educational research is as much art as science and not everyone, no matter how well qualified, is capable of it. The core team, therefore, conduct all the research themselves, hiring help as necessary. They are able to call on the support of Mandy Bungey, an IT specialist, and a team of 20 interviewers and clerical assistants. Research assistants and students are appointed for particular projects.
The IT Services Helpdesk is the first point of contact for all requests and queries related to the University’s IT facilities. This friendly team is always happy to welcome and support our users, whether they are using specialist equipment or simply having trouble checking their email.
1.The Franciscan Library holds all the core textbooks and reference books for Medicine, Law, Psychology, Mathematics and Computing. We support the Faculty of Computing, Law and Psychology.
2. The Hunter Street Library supports the Faculty of Business, Humanities & Social Sciences. If you are looking for books on Business and Accounting, Politics and Economics, History, History of Art and English Literature then Hunter Street will hold all your core texts and required reading.
General Medical Council (GMC)
QAA Accreditation
James’ ground-breaking research on low-cost private education has won numerous awards, including a gold prize in the first International Finance Corporation/Financial Times Private Sector Development Competition, a Templeton Prize for Free Market Solutions to Poverty, and the National Free Enterprise Award from the Institute of Economic Affairs, London. His book based on this research, The Beautiful Tree: A personal journey into how the world’s poorest are educating themselves”, (Penguin), was a best-seller in India and won the Sir Antony Fisher Memorial Prize. Other books of his include Education, War and Peace and Liberty to Learn.
James has co-founded chains of low-cost schools in Ghana (Omega Schools), India (Cadmus Education), Honduras (Cadmus Academies), and, most recently, in England (Independent Grammar Schools). He is also involved with large associations of low-cost private schools, including as Patron of the Association of Formidable Educational Development (Nigeria) and Chief Mentor of the National Independent Schools Alliance (India).
James’s work has featured in documentaries on American PBS television and the BBC. He has been described in the pages of Philanthropy magazine as “a 21st century Indiana Jones” travelling to “the remotest regions on Earth researching something that many regard as mythical: private, parent-funded schools serving the Third World poor.”
Harriet is on the Board of the University of Buckingham Press and a member of Buckinghamshire’s Skills Strategy Board. She is also an external member of BIMM University’s Learning and Teaching Enhancement Commiittee and Professorial Appointments Committee, and the University of Sussex’s Education and Scholarships Promotions Panel.
Between 2018 and 2023, the Buckingham Enterpris... read more
As a result, Innovation and Entrepreneurship is one of the main strategies of the University from 2023 to 2028.
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The University of Buckingham was incorporated by grant of Royal Charter on February 11th, 1983 and became a registered charity (number 1141691) on May 4th, 2011. As of 2020, the University has a student population of 3300 students originating from more than 70 countries.
From the start, Buckingham was different. Throughout the history of University of Buckingham, there has been a desire to cultivate an institution that was rigorously independent in its thinking; while this ethos started by its founders remains, it has been supplemented by an emphasis on developing and delivering academic provision that is distinctive and distinguished and a student experience that is supported and strengthened by positive psychology.