University of Westminster

The University of Westminster is a public university in London, United Kingdom. Its antecedent institution, the Royal Polytechnic Institution, was founded in 1838 and was the first polytechnic institution in the UK. Westminster was awarded university status in 1992 meaning it could award its own degrees.

Its headquarters and original campus are in Regent Street in the City of Westminster area of central London, with additional campuses in Fitzrovia, Marylebone and Harrow. It operates the Westminster International University in Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

Westminster's academic activities are organised into seven faculties and schools, within which there are around 45 departments. The University has numerous centres of research excellence across all the faculties, including the Communication and Media Research Institute, whose research is ranked in the Global Top 40 by the QS World University Rankings. Westminster had an income of £170.4 million in 2012/13, of which £4.5 million was from research grants and contracts.

Westminster is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Association of MBAs, EFMD, the European University Association and Universities UK.

Prior to 2013, Westminster was organised into seven schools; Law (School of Law), SSHL (School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages), ECS (Electronics Engineering and Computer Science), LSS (School of Life Sciences), MAD (School of Media, Arts and Design), WBS (Westminster Business School), and ABE (School of Architecture and the Built Environment). Within the schools were 45 departments and 65 research centres. However, a new faculty system was put in place at the start of the new academic year (2013/2014). Among these, two former schools from the previous system have remained, and left unintegrated into the faculties.

• Faculty of Science and Technology (Cavendish)
• Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design (Harrow)
• Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (Regent)
• Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (Marylebone)
• Westminster Law School (Regent)
• Westminster Business School (Marylebone)

The University of Westminster is internationally recognized for the Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design (MAD) based in north London, which offers one of the most extensive portfolios of media degrees in Europe. The university has numerous centres of research excellence across all the faculties, including the Communication and Media Research Institute, whose research is ranked in the Global Top 40 by the QS World University Rankings.